Just a Wolf
by Girl of Twilight Wings
Summary: Artemis Wolfblood is a lycanthrope. She's been that way all of her life. She's part of a pack with fourteen members, including her. They're as happy as a bunch of multi-species misfits can be. However that all changed the day a man dragged a wounded elf through their woods and the pack is discovered for what they really are. Now, how can they survive? Rated T for good reasons.
1. Wolf

Chapter 1

I can't help but wonder what happened to me. I've been like this for as long as I can remember, yet I know that however brief it was, there was a before. The others also know about the before, what they had previously been before becoming wolves. They felt more at home in their non-wolf skin in the summer. Me, I'm fine in either one. I am strange, even for a wolf. As a pack, we all love and accept each other, however I don't waste my time forlornly watching the other world for their imprints, or roughhousing like the former orcs. They turn back into elves, but are more rough and playful. That's the benefit of being a wolf.

Others say there aren't many. I am Artemis Wolfblood. I have no family and no memory of the before. I spend my days as wolf or human, but I am always Artemis Wolfblood. The others, like our pack jokester, a former hobbit named Braden Yarrow, is either Braden or the wolf. I find it simply sad. They can't be happy. The only other one like me in the way that they feel whole in both skins is Elanor Deliasdaughter. She was a free spirit in the before, and is a free spirit now.

I'm sure you're wondering what the hell I'm rambling on about. As you know, I'm Artemis. I'm a lycanthrope. No, I don't mean those fantastical full moon creatures that kill those fake creatures known as vampires or run around, a human with wolf-like qualities eating and/or stealing hearts. Those creatures don't exist. During the winter, when the temperatures drop, I change into a wolf. I have to admit, it hurts, but I don't remember a time when it didn't happen. When the temperatures change in the spring, I turn back.

Each of us was turned at a certain time in our lives. I was turned at birth, or that's what we're guessing. Wolves remember it all, and if I don't remember not being a wolf, then I had to have been bitten directly after birth. The before is when we get turned. I don't have one, but it's evident others do. Like the three former orcs who changed their names and happily live as wolves and elves after the change cured them. One is Damien, the other is a girl named Rachel. The last one is a gruff man named Gale. They're nice, if a bit rough.

The pack has exactly fourteen members, with more coming. We never bite elves, but orcs turn into them, meaning this number is ever changing. Our leader is a man named Darrius Borranson. His imprint is a woman named Katrina Sandrasdaughter. We never turn the imprints. It's cruel to force them into this life. Hell, we never turn anyone on purpose. The second in command is Gale. There's Me, the heir should anything happen to Gale (Which, sadly, is probably going to be soon), Sabine(Human), Hadaran(Human), Tolin(Dwarf), Elanor(Human), Damien(elf, sort of), Rachel(elf, sort of), Victor(Human), Samuel(A Hobbit/dwarf thing), Braden(Hobbit), Gabe(Human), and Gollen(Dwarf).

Each of them has an imprint, a person that they had feelings for while in their other forms. These were all amplified when they changed, into an unbreakable bond for those who married and into a painful longing for those who didn't claim their potential mates. Since I didn't get the chance, I never imprinted on someone.

So to the present. It's nearing spring, and we're hunting. As a wolf, your fears are stripped away, so are your restraints. Everything about you is displayed in full detail because the wolf is who you are inside.

I sprint forwards, tempted to let my toung hang out of my mouth like some of the newer pack members. Instead, like a precise hunter, I close in on the deer.

A sharp, pained yelp pulls us out of it. A human scent tints the air. We stop and turn to the source. It's Braden. He's shifted back to the red haired hobbit boy he enjoys being. He also isn't wearing clothing, but nobody gives a crap. We've all done this hundreds of times before.

He sighs and says something in the human language that we don't understand, but can make out the gist. _"Don't stop for me!"_

So we turned to make up for lost time. I do love the hunt. It's the greatest thing about being a wolf, the thrill. I actually feel a bit sorry for Braden. He changed in the middle of a hunt.

I race forwards, mindful to keep a pace behind Darius and at the same stride as Gale. Darius is a white wolf, and Gale is a smoky grey with a scar over one of his yellow eyes. Our eyes are the only physical detail we keep.

I really don't know what my wolf form looks like. You don't get to hang around mirrors as a wolf, and looking into a river is asking to get shoved in and left behind.

I continue running at my pace, but know that as soon as that deer is within distance, I get to run full speed. In anticipation when I see the dear's white rear bobbing around, a muscle in my left paw twitches and my ears swivel excitedly. Darrius growls once to remind me to wait for his signal.

As soon as he gives it, I let loose and charge. I'm the fastest, so it's my job to stagger the deer. I leap onto the buck's back and snap my jaws around his neck, twisting and throwing my weight to the side. The deer falls and the rest of the pack comes at it. As soon as it's dead, we drag it back to our den and give it to the members that had stayed behind. Some were hiding from the heat as long as possible, others were just off duty. I take my piece of the kill after Darrius and Gale, and the rest of the pack follows.

We're just enjoying the meal when the sounds of wargs comes. My hackles raise, I'm snarling silently, in a fighting stance. So is the rest of the pack. We all hate Wargs.

The wargs pass us by, and out of sheer curiosity, I send Darrius an image of me following them. He nods and I follow silently.

They're hunting something else. It smells like an elf. How we didn't catch that scent, I have no idea.

There's also another scent, a human. The elf is leaving a blood trail, meaning it is injured. This is why the Wargs were attracted.

The wargs surround the two. The human is brandishing weapons. The elf is almost dead. They're almost at Imladris, too. I guess I have to pitch in somehow, but fighting all those huge wargs isn't an option. Instead, I howl. This startles the wargs. One of them begins to howl back, but is cut off by the rough cry of Darrius. He sends me an image of help. I send him an image of the elf and man, and Braden getting them to imladris while I lead the orcs away, howling back. The elf and man are confused, and the wargs are getting agitated.

I howl directly for the wargs. One of them, with a signal from the alpha, obviously the piss-on omega, comes. I can take him on.

I growl and lunge, tearing the omega's throat out in a swift motion, then jumping out from under his dying body. The elf and man are astonished.

I snarl at the wargs, and they give chase. Even if that had been their omega, they still weren't letting a simple wolf kill one of their own.

I howl, sending Braden the image to lead the man and elf out. A sharp whistle tells me the message has been received. I run. I'm the deer now, and I know that as soon as they close in, a runner will come at me to bring me down.

So, at full speed, I jump, whirl in midair, and duck beneath a log. They jump over the log and me, and I'm running towards the river while they try to figure out what happened. They eventually see me and give chase again. I jump the hidden pass and run along the edge of the hidden city for a few paces, and then whip around in a new direction and run towards a river.

One warg has given up, but the others are still chasing me. I run into the river, right into Lord Elrond and his sons. I skid to a stop with a startled yelp. They blink at me in surprise. I realize I can't tell them about the wargs, and they're unarmed. The wargs, however, reveal themselves.

I can't run, they won't follow me anymore. I have to make another kill to get their attention.

Then the elf lord starts saying something. I roll my eyes and dart in, tearing at the throat of the straggler. We go down, tumbling through the water. I tear something open with my claws and blood spews at me. I'm guessing it was an artery. I snap at his throat, and he kicks me off. The wargs are focusing on me now, except for the alpha, who is still attacking the elves. The elf lord can't finish whatever it was he was doing. So, I promptly throw myself at the alpha.

Not even Darrius or Gale, the best fighters, can defeat a warg of this size. I don't think I have to. I just have to distract him for a few minutes.

The tables are turned, and he has me dangling from his jaws. I kick him hard in the face and try to attack, but I can't get a firm purchase. This is it. I have just killed myself for a man and four elves.

Just then, the river roars. The warg drops me. One of the elves pulls me out of the water, and the water, taking the shape of horses, tramples the orcs.

Lycanthropes heal fast. I'm already okay. Now I'm out of here. Elves and wargs are one thing. Waves are another. I am so not sticking around to see how this ends.

I make my way back to the den and collapse, soggy and covered in dry blood. Sabine gives me a motherly growl and I respond with a grunt and a twitch of my ear. She leaves me alone. What a day.

I'm out.


	2. Safety

Chapter 2

As I wake up, the smell of flowers drifts into my nose. The sounds of crickets chirping and the forest moving quietly flows into my ears like a sweet melody. I get up and stretch, shaking dew from my fur, and pad quietly into the evening air. The pack mills around, some eating a snack for the morning and guarding it from the other wolves, others lying side by side, trading mental images. A young wolf chases his tail. He's not a lycanthrope, but his pack was killed so we took him in. Elanor takes care of him for now. Braden walks in with some more cloaks and leaves them in the den in case anyone else turns back. The air is peculiarly warm tonight, and it's just another reminder that summer is coming. I sent Elanor another image of her biting the pup. She shook her head.

We have to turn him. I wonder what he'll be when that happens, and if Elanor doesn't do it, someone else will. It will most likely be Rachel's task, but I will take it on if necessary. I walk towards Elanor, and she growls at me angrily and sends me an image of me walking away. I growl at her and then send her an image of that pup, all alone and scared and confused in the woods while we're off in our own towns for the summer. I also show him starving and crying, eventually picked off by something larger.

She leaps at me but pauses a few inches away, snarling furiously. I calmly send her an image of her finding the pup's dead corpse when she changes back. She shows me a picture of her caring for him as a human. I showed him turning into a fat pet and being killed by another animal.

She growls. I growl, and I send her an image of herself turning the pup, and him growing and living the fullest life a wolf can have. She lunged angrily and I dodge, she skids in the dirt, kicking up grass. She lunges again, and I sweep the pup aside as she crashes down where I'd been. I turn and bite the pup.

She slams into my side. I only bit the pup on the back, it didn't hurt him, but it was enough of a delay for Elanor to get at me. I roll and tackle her, biting the ruff of her neck, pulling, and twisting slightly, disabling her. I growled at her, and then let go and walked away.

A sudden, pain stricken yelp sounded, as well as the crackling of bones reshaping themselves. We all turned to see Rachel changing forms. Damien emerged with a cloak and dropped it at her feet, and she wrapped it around herself and darted after Barden. Some of the wolves who wanted to stay wolves retreated into the cool depths of the cave. The last one decided to own up to the truth and stayed out. Darrius sent me an image of me and some of the wolves taking out a patrol of the territory in case the elves came looking for us. I jerked my head and a few wolves followed me.

We ran out of the clearing and into the woods. Tolin and Victor began to chase a rabbit. Patrol really meant, 'hang around in the woods and maybe you'll see something'.

I ran back to the stream. Standing there was one of the two sons of Elrond, and the man. I crouched and watched them silently from the forest, listening to every part of their conversation so I can translate it when I'm human. Then I realize I can already understand bits and pieces of it because it's not human speech. It's elf speech.

"Same wolf… Help… More out there… he says… hunt the survivors… find the wolves... Human eyes…" I've heard enough. They know it was me both times, they know about the pack. They're going to hunt us. They know what we are.

My lips automatically curl, and dim moonlight reflects off of my teeth. I lower myself into the undergrowth as the elf looks my way.

"What… Elladan?" Asks the human.

"… Saw… bushes… wolf?" Elladan asked.

I back into the undergrowth and dart back into the woods. I howl for Tolin and Victor, sending them an image of them talking about us, sending them sounds so they can understand what happened.

They quit tearing after rabbits and we raced into the clearing by the cave and shoot frantic images of the scene.

They know.

Darrius sends me back out to watch them. I do so, and find them walking back to Imladris. I tail them to the entrance, and then I hesitate. Watching them out here is one thing. If I were to follow them into Imladris and they don't really plan to kill the pack and I was discovered, this forest would be short one wolf pack. But I have to know. I stalk them through the bushes on the side of the path. They enter their chambers. I hide and watch the guards, tuning into conversation whenever I can.

The sun rises, and it gets harder to move unseen.

I know I'm in danger of changing. I have to leave. I can come back posing as a traveler later, or at night.

I sneak into the forest again, and then I run into a procession of Mirkwood elves. I can feel the change readying. The girl is trying to come out.

They shout and draw their bows. I run around them and into the forest, and then make it to the clearing where I collapse, shaking. I let out a pained whine as my bones began breaking. I yelped as they reformed, and I was laying on the ground, a cloak in front of me. I'm a girl. I'm human.

I wrap myself in the cloak and go to the cabin. Waiting for me are Braden, Rachel, Elanor, and a small child. He's a human with ash grey hair, about seven.

I stride in and dress myself in my usual cloths, blue pants, a faded green shirt, and the cloak. I walk out of the room I use in this form.

"So, good to be back in your human skin?" Asked Braden.

"I have to keep a lookout on the elves." I say, "I think they know. I just have to go in as a traveler."

"I'll come with you." Elanor said. "Me and my son, Gabriel, can come with you."

I nodded, and I knew that she hated me for turning him. He wouldn't imprint, like me, meaning mother and son would have one thing in common. He wouldn't have a mate, and he'd probably still die young, but it was the best we can do for him.

"Did you explain to him?" I asked.

"Yes. He is familiar with wolf culling, and he knows that we could be killed if he tells the elves, or even hints it. Besides, he's too young to be guilty."

I nod and say, "Then we'd better hurry. I changed, meaning the others will too. I'm not sure how the elves would like to find a cabin full of people inside the boundaries of their woods. We'd be driven out, and with none of us changed, even though only an immediately fatal wound can kill us, we'd all die."

She nodded and we left the building and walked along the road. Some rangers were women, and we both bore the appearance of rangers, so we'd fit in.

That was, until the ground beneath me collapsed. I let out a startled cry as the earth plunged. I crashed to the ground and blacked out. Startled, Elanor jumped and yanked Gabe from the ledge. She darted away, overtaken by a wolf's desire to flee. It was adrenaline, I know. She would change and run back to the pack. Gabe would walk back to the house. I'd be left here. Those who fall behind tend to stay behind.

I'm in a pool of muddy water. It's freezing, and up to my shoulders. I can't afford to shift now, because wolf me will have to swim and I can't keep that up forever.

I lunged for the wall and clawed at it frantically. I kept scrabbling for purchase as my wolf form tore at me, howling to be released. I won't last long.

"Somebody help!" I shouted. No reply came. I feel my bones breaking and reshaping. Fur grows and I find myself swimming. I claw at the sides of the sinkhole and howl. Sleepy wolves gather at the edges and then shy away from the drop. They howl too, calling for help from Braden, Rachel, and anyone who hasn't turned. I see Elanor there as well, howling. She'd turn human again soon.

The wolves, however, departed one by one. They couldn't stay. They had to care for themselves. I pushed my legs against the bottom of the hole and lean against the wall, sending a desperate cry for help. I jumped again and slid down the muddy wall. I knew with certainty that I'm going to die.

Then voices sounded. I let out a whining, tired call for help. A face appeared over the edge. It was the elf I helped save, and the man, and the two sons of Elrond.

I couldn't make out what they said, it was elven, but I'm too tired to hear it.

I can't tell how many hours I've been here. My limbs shaking, I feel myself slowly failing in the struggle to stay above water.

ELLADAN POV

It's the same wolf from the other night, the same one that followed Aragorn and I back to Imladris. It has the same eyes. It's covered in mud, exhausted, and has obviously been there for hours.

"That's the same wolf that led the wargs away from us." Aragorn said softly. "Someone get rope!"

Elrohir scurried off to comply. For once, I didn't go with my twin. Both Aragorn and Legolas owe this wolf their lives, and in a way so did my father. Elrohir returned with rope, which Aragorn turned into a harness. "Hold this end and be ready to pull." He said, then jumped into the sinkhole. The wolf yelped and feebly tried to pull away, then in a burst of strength leapt at the wall and attempted to climb. It sank, and this time it didn't resurface.

Aragorn dove under, and after a few seconds came up holding the wolf. Then we all saw something that made our jaws drop. The wolf had a cloak on. We hadn't noticed. Aragorn put the harness around it and we pulled the wolf up, and then he followed. The wolf lay there for several seconds before blinking slowly at us as if to say it was alive. It moved its head and tore the cloak off, and then stood on shaky legs.

"There you go, girl." Aragorn said.

Giving him a look that added up to wolf annoyance, she proceeded to shake mud all over us. We all shielded our faces, and when we moved our arms, the wolf was limping into the woods. She howled once, and a few more howls responded. They sounded happy, probably happy that she was alive. She darted off into the woods at a fairly slow pace.

"Why was that wolf wearing a cloak?" Asked Elrohir.

"That's not all I found." Aragorn said, holding up pieces of muddy cloth. "I think it ate someone."

"Then why would it be wearing a cloak?" Asked Legolas.

Then I spotted tracks. "Because it wasn't a wolf. Look."

There were many paw prints, but the ones that fell into the hole belonged to a human.

"No way." Elrohir said. "You are not calling this a skin changer."

"Why would a skin changer turn into a wolf in that situation? Much more logical to stay a human." Asked Aragorn.

None of us know the answer to that, but I'm sure there is one, but one thing is clear. There is much more to the wolves than we originally thought.


	3. Human

Chapter 3

I can only imagine what might have happened yesterday, because I can't remember it at all. I must have blacked out somewhere along the line. All I know is that I woke up in the den, human, soaking wet. So I came back to my nice, cozy room and put on some nightclothes, and went to sleep. Now I'm awake, Elanor has scolded me for scaring the living puss out of her, Gabe cried, and now I'm sitting in the sunshine reading a book about some idiot princess getting carried off in a chest of gold by a dragon and some prince having to save her then marry the bimbo.

"Good read?" Asked Braden.

"It sucks." I reply. "Why, in every, single, story, does the princess have to be such a dumb blonde and walk into a chest of gold when a dragon is attacking? I mean come _on_, she's practically _asking _the dragon to come eat her. And the prince, what a douche! He saves her life 'out of the goodness of his heart' and then makes her marry him, when she has a perfectly good guy back home who almost died to save her from the dragon said douche killed. Guy thinks just 'cause he has muscles he can have everything he wants."

"You could kill him in seconds. Think of this, Dragonslayerslayer, Artemis Wolfblood!" Rachel joked.

"I thought it was good." Braden pouted.

I threw the book at him. He caught it and in mock anger cried, "Don't throw the literature!"

I rolled my eyes. "It's the literature you made up. Next time, make up something where the girl saves the guy for a change, or at least make the guy a homosexual so we can skip all of this pointless drama!"

He huffed and stormed back into the cabin.

"Make the guy a homosexual?" Asked Rachel, a bit confused. "Why not the girl?"

"It was so Braden could go ahead and marry him."

"I HEARD THAT!"

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO!" I shouted back.

Rachel was rolling on the ground in a fit of laughter. I honestly don't know what she found so funny.

"Um, Rachel, what's so funny?"

"Oh," She sucked in a breath, "You don't get it at all, do you?"

"Nope." I reply. "What am I supposed to be getting?"

"Oh, nothing. You'll get it next year when you turn twenty."

I shrugged.

"This time, I am including a girl who saves a guy… from herself! Get this, Artemis Wolfblood runs off a cliff after slaying the dragon!"

I chucked a ball of mud at him through the window. It hit him square in the face.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

He scrabbled backwards and tripped over the chair legs, falling backwards over the table, and crashing in an ungraceful heap into a pile of his books.

He came up looking like a zombie from outer space, with a leaf sticking out of his nose that made a whistling sound as he snorted like a horse. "VERY MATURE, ARTEMIS!"

"I know, right?" I shouted. He was about to reply when the startled yelp sounded, followed by a shocked yell from someone that was unmistakably an elf, and not one of our orcs-turned-elves.

I jumped off the fence and darted into the woods, holding my long knives. Someone was in trouble. Rachel and Braden followed me and we found the source of the trouble. There were elves there. They had found two pack members, Samuel, a white freckled snowy grey wolf, and Damien, who was wandering the woods.

I made a noise like a bird chirping. I had an image flashed into my head from Samuel, who was sure the elves would take Damien to Imladris and take him with them. He showed me a picture of him shifting there.

I whistled sharply, and a howl replied. The elves looked edgy.

"Look, as much as it would be great to come with you, me and my friend here should really be going right about now, so unless you want to get mauled by a pack of angry wolves you'd better let us.

Eyes glowed in the trees as the wolf pack slowly emerged.

"Where's the small brown one?" Asked one, and I recognize it as Elladan.

"What small brown one?" Asked Damien.

"We've been seeing a small brown wolf, actually we pulled her out of a sinkhole a day ago." Said the blond elf I saved.

I tightened my grip on my knives. These elves are looking for me. If adrenaline kicks in, it's a chilly morning. I could turn and fall out of the tree, and it would be a huge indicator that I'm in fact, here.

Darrius, a tall, bulky black wolf with green eyes steps out of the forest, snarling. Gale steps out behind him, and the pack begins to advance.

"Now would be a good time to leave." Elrohir said. They sighed and the man said, "Well, if you see her, make sure she's okay."

Confusion spread through the pack. Weren't they here to hunt me? They were checking on me?

They had already left. I jumped from the tree as the wolves retreated. I could tell that they were all on the verge of a change, and it had been risky calling them all out.

"Thanks for covering for me." I say. "Now we won't have to deal with them again until next year."

"No problem." Damien said, "If they figured out about you, they'd figure out about the rest of us."

"Alright." I say, the chill getting to me. "If this day gets any chillier, I think Rachel will shift back. Me too, if it gets too bad."

"Wolf not asleep yet?"

"It never is, Damien." I reply. "You should head into town and see your imprint."

"Seriously? See Rilaniel, now? I'm not firmly in this skin, I can change at any moment; we all can. Maybe in a few weeks, when it's warmer out."

I grin and walk back towards the cabin, where Rachel and Braden are laying on the lawn, staring at the clouds. "That one looks like a toad." Braden says.

"That one looks like a cat."

"That one looks like a pillow."

"No, it looks like a turd."

"It's a pillow."

"It's a turd."

"It is not!"

"Yes it is."

"Isn't!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"Should we interrupt them?" I asked Damien innocently.

"Yes." He replied, rolling his eyes at me. "They can get into fistfights about this crap, usually landing Braden in the well."

"But they're having fun. Do we _have _to?" I asked him.

"Yes. Wow. I can't believe I, a former orc, have to tell you this."

I pouted as he walked over and said, "New topic!"

Their fighting ceased just before it could get interesting. I walk over to the fence and climb it, then sit there. Soon, I'm staring up at the clouds while listening to the sounds of day. I look over and see a tulip blooming in the edge of the clearing, a beautiful purple color. I smile and watch it for a while as the wind blows it around, simply enjoying the sensation of doing absolutely nothing. Once Darrius changes, that won't be the case anymore.

He'll have us exercising and training and making supply runs out of the forest on those weird horse things. They don't even like us, we probably smell like dog.

I jumped off the fence again around noon and walked into the cabin, light streaming into the open windows. Elanor, returned to her human form, was playing with her kid. I know I turned him, and to tell the truth I'm not the least bit sorry about it. Braden is sitting by the window. Oh, great, his imprint is nagging him again.

"Thinking about Marie?" I asked him.

He nodded. "She would love a patch of tulips like those. We never got any in the shire."

"That is horrible." I say somberly. "What would life be like without a flower?"

"Shut up." He sighed, detecting a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

I grin. "You look like a lost puppy."

"Get lost."

"Whatever you say, Braden." I reply cheekily.

He sighs and says, "You shouldn't taunt us about our imprints. It feels like someone gouged a hole out of my chest and tore my heart out through it. You'll never have heartbreak. Be glad."

"I am glad, that I don't have to spend my whole time moping. Get some air, Romeo." I laugh.

He ignores me and I walk away, knowing he won't pay me any heed from here on out. Damien walks in, and is followed shortly by Golen, fully a dwarf.

"Welcome to the two-legged world, my friends!" I call.

"Now I want to be a wolf again." Golen said.

"Imagine how miserable you'd feel in heavy fur during the summer." I replied. "Imagine all of the shedding you'd do…" I shuddered in mock horror.

He grunted and walked away, off to get alcohol from the cellar.

"You know it's probably old and nasty by now, right? It's been in there for about two years now!" Damien calls after him.

"I know!" He shouted, "That's why it's on the list of things to get on the next supply run!"

"You're getting it!" I reply. No way would the human world let a girl purchase alcohol of any sort.

Soon, Damien was thinking about his imprint with Braden. Golen was drinking, Elanor and Gabriel were eating, and I'm drawing with paint on the back of my hand. Yep, this is life for you.


	4. Horses

**Hi, readers! I don't own Lord of the rings and probably never will, so that's out of the way. If I am making any mistake that you can comment on that isn't a flame, please do. Thanks!**

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

It's been a week. The elves haven't bothered us, the man left. Only two pack members aren't back on two legs, Hadaran, and Darrius. Damien went to see his imprint, or at least try to work up the nerve to speak with her. He always gets all weak-kneed around the lorien elf. It's very funny to watch.

Golen is throwing out his drinks (Burying them, let's not be litter bugs, we have to live in these woods) and Elanor is taking Gabriel to see her imprint, who actually knows our secret but has the good grace to avoid being drunk and saying anything or telling anyone while he's sober. His name is Marcus Hardwater. She'll probably spend a month or two with him in Bree, and when it gets nearer to fall, he'll come back with them and we'll talk and then she and Gabe will turn and he'll go back home.

I'm going to go hang around for a bit. Something about that Elladan elf is freaking me out. I will never tell anyone. It's sunrise, a chilly morning in spring, but the mornings have been warming at a steady pace.

I'm reading another one of Braden's crap books when Darrius walks it. I promptly slam the book down onto the table and jump to attention. He smiled and said, "Yes, I'm back. I'm going to put on some cloths, and then I'll give those of you who are volunteering to stay around a few errands."

Looks like I'm going after all. I hover around until he comes out.

"Who's leaving, and who's already left?"

Gale replied. "Damien is most likely at Lothlorien by now. Elanor is taking Gabriel on her annual trip, Braden is going to visit the shire, and I am going to take a personal trip to Bree to see about the hunters we encountered last fall."

Darrius nodded, and said, "Alright, you're free to go when you wish. Golen is obviously going to get his, um, beverages." The dwarf grunted in confirmation.

"Then on the way, you wouldn't mind purchasing yourself new clothing? You seem to be a bit large for the clothing, I am afraid it shrunk."

"That it did." He grumbled. None of us want to risk calling him fat.

"Sabine, I want you to head into town and get us some more food, take the wagon, Hadaran, go with her." They nodded and Elanor handed them a list of things we needed.

"Tolin, we need some news. You and Samuel go see what you can find out about what's going on out there, we need to be informed." The two nodded.

"Rachel, Victor, you get the longest task. I want you two to enter a town disguised as rangers. Build up names, and try to see if you can gain any closure on the matter of Evan's condition." Even might be a new pack member, and he might die. Only one fourth of the wolves bitten ever turn. There's a 25% chance you'll die, another 25% chance that it won't affect you at all. 25% of the time, all the venom did was heal you. The final 25%, you turn into a wolf. Evan, a human teen, is either going to turn, or he's going to die. The first transformation is an odd one, you turn in the summer, get a year off, and then turn in the winter.

He was bitten by a rogue wolf named Calypso, and had been her imprint. His feelings had not been returned to her, so she bit him so that he'd know her pain. Darrius had personally killed Calypso afterwards.

"Artemis, you and I will retrieve medical supplies from Rohan."

I nod, accepting the task.

We split apart, and I begin to pack. Clothing, one of those bracelets full of herbs that, when pressed to the skin, prevent the change, and some food. Then I go find the horse thing, which stamps and gives the horse equivalent of a snarl at me.

"By Lycaon, you are one insane horse." I growl, jumping onto his back.

I hear a chuckle and see Darrius leading a perfectly calm black mare from the stables.

"How come horses hate everybody but you?" I ask snappishly.

"Before I became a wolf, I was one of the Rohirrim." He replied.

"Of course you were." I growl. My horse screeched as I shifted my weight. "Oh, shut up. I don't care if I smell like wolf."

Darrius chuckled and mounted the mare. "Let's get moving. Are you wearing the bracelet?" He asked.

"Yep." I reply, holding up my arm. He smiles at me, and he digs his heels into the mare's sides, prompting it to walk forwards. I do the same, and the horse tries to buck me off before sprinting, out of control, out the gate, then digging his front legs into the ground, threw me high off of his back and onto my face in the mud.

And of course, that was just when the elves discovered our cabin. I'm not sure how I missed them.

"What the hell is wrong with that thing?" I yell.

"Horses don't like you." Darrius replies. "It's not her fault you smell like wet dog."

"Mhm, sure, cause you don't." I reply, spitting out a clump of grass.

"You can walk, if you want."

"YES!"

"Are you okay?"

I jumped about ten feet into the air, spun around, slipped in the mud, and landed on my backside. I got up and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a bit of mud."

One of the elves pulled a stick out of my head.

"That was in my head? EWW!" I clutched at the wound, pretending I could feel it and that it was still open. "I'd better go get this taken care of. Bye!"

GLORFINDEL POV

I couldn't help but give a shocked glance after her. She didn't seem to be in any amount of pain, and I'm pretty sure I saw that wound close up the second the stick came out. So either I just imagined it, or she is just a really weird girl.

"So, you must be that elf lord Glorfindel." The man said. I nodded.

"I'm Darrius." He said, dismounting the mare and holding his hand out to shake. "Pleased to meet you."

I shook the outstretched hand and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you as well." He has a strong grip, and I refrain from reacting to the pain his grip caused.

"So, how come you're here?" Asked Darrius.

"I was just on a patrol, and we heard the horse screaming, so we came to have a look. How long have you been here?"

"I've been here thirty years. Haven't you noticed?"

"No." I replied, puzzled. How did they stay hidden?

"Ah, then I'm sorry to give you a scare. Artemis there isn't liked by the horses."

"I can see that," I reply, casting a glance at the horse, which was still staring hatefully at the building. The mare refused to react. It was obviously well bred. "I am sorry for disturbing you." I reply, and I lead my patrol out of the clearing. The trees whisper as I pass, some giving warnings to stay away from these parts at winter, others telling us to go back and see something.

I ignored them, and so did my patrol.

ARTEMIS POV

That elf was just downright freaky.


	5. Stories on the Road

**HALOWEEN IS TOMORROW! Thank you very much for reviewing and being awesome people by reading my story! Just to give you some information about wolves, In Idaho, they're cruelly being hunted from helicopters and they have absolutely zero chance if we don't get them back on the protected list where they belong, so please stand up for the wolves. Also, if you didn't know, something horse lovers should know, Obama is having all of the wild mustangs rounded up and sent to slaughter houses. Stand up for them, too, or we won't have any left. These animals are in danger. **

**Artemis's wolf form is the Mexican Grey Wolf, which is very rare and being hunted because dogs have been escaping and joining their packs. They're wild animals and just because they're not controlled by humans doesn't make it right to kill them. So let's take a stand for the wolves!**

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

I think Glorfydell (or was it Glorfindel?) is really creepy. He's tall, blond, stereotypical elf who really seems above everybody else. Elladan has this creepy serial-killer vibe coming off of him, and the guards were just, cold and aloof. Former orcs make better elves than born ones. It's kind of ironic, orcs, the opposite of elves, turning out better than born elves.

I'm on the mare, which seems to be fine with me after yesterday's performance, and Darius is riding Bucky. (Yes, I named the horse Bucky) Bucky seems to like him. Probably because he's a former Rider of Rohan. I don't like horses, so I'm not jealous.

We guide the horses out of the woods and onto a path that wouldn't suggest that we're from the woods of Imladris, and continue with the mild pace.

Bucky turned and gave me a hateful glare before returning his gaze to the road. My temper flared. "Darrius, next winter I will _eat _that horse." I growl.

"Try not to." He replied.

I huffed and continued.

Then Bucky seemed to realize that Darrius smells a bit wolfish and starts to run.

"Oh, great." I grumble. I urge the mare forwards, and he races at the pace of a summer storm and catches up to Bucky just in time to see the shaggy brown horse throw Darrius into a ditch. I grab the horse's reins.

"I told you! This horse is a safety hazard!" I called as he stood up, wiping mud off of himself. He was limping, but pushed the broken bone in his leg back into place. Then he brushed off the blood on his nose and replied, "It is, but for people who heal ourselves in seconds, he's not."

He got right back on Bucky and held tightly to the horse's mane, and we continued.

We keep going until we run into the man, the ranger. He's walking at a rather leisurely pace.

"Hello ranger!" I chirp as we pass him. He doesn't look up. Typical. I feel like chucking an apple at him now.

The mare (I've decided to call him swift) trots down the road, alert and strong, yet peaceful. This is the absolute perfect horse.

"Hey Darrius, where'd you get this horse?"

"Rohan." He replied. "It was a gift from a nobleman for saving his life in battle."

"So you actually fought in a battle. What was it like?"

"Well," He says, "It was chaotic."

"Can you tell me about it, you know, to pass the time?" I ask.

"Of course." He says with a grin. "It was late in the year, December. It's where I got bitten. We were in Edoras when the alert came. Wild men were raiding a village. The riders were called, and I was put onto the garrison that came." He said. "When we got there, the villagers were fleeing and the wild men were busy hauling everything of value to their caravan. We surrounded them and charged in.

"In charge of the Garrison was a Nobleman, actually a bit inexperienced. He led the charge, and his mare was shot down, wounded. This one, actually." He patted Bucky's side.

"Bucky was a battlehorse?"

"You named the horse Bucky?"

"Why not? He bucks off anyone who tries to ride him, even you, Mr. Rohan."

He sighed and continued. "The horse fled, and he and all the Rohirim on foot had to fight that way. It was pure chaos in there. You kill verything and everyone who looks like an enemy and move on, trying not to get caught in the crossfire of two more fighting and at the same time try to keep them out of yours. We'd almost won the battle when the Nobleman fell, slipping in a puddle of his own blood. The worst thing that can happen in a battle is to fall because then you are helpless. My horse had a spear put through his heart, and grounded, I stabbed the wild man before he could kill the Nobleman. Apparently it had been their leader, because they all scattered like flies afterwards."

"Impressive."

"One remained. He had a wolflike body but the stance of a human. He ran in afterwards and killed twenty men and ten horses before someone got to him. I was making sure he was dead when he got me. He bit me right on my upper arm, and I'm relieved it wasn't his intended target, my throat. He made a run for it afterwards."

"And then the Nobleman gave you the horse, you turned into a wolf." I finish. He nods and says, "I choked up blood all over a celebratory table and was presumed dead in the process, however."

"Eww. Thanks for that image, Darrius." I groan. I can just imagine the guy, handsome in youth, sitting at a table, being congratulated by his friends, suddenly spewing blood everywhere from his mouth and falling down in it. That is just gross.

The mare grunts to warn us of someone approaching. We hear them, too, traveling fast, and move to the side of the path to let whoever it is pass.

A creepy elf passes. She's hooded and cloaked, on a white horse. Her cloak is black, billowing behind her, and her skin is pale. She looks like a freaking spirit of death.

"These Rivendel elves are creepy." I inform Darrius, suppressing a shudder.

He chuckled. "You'd like the Mirkwood ones, I'm sure. They have their heads in the trees, sort of like you, Artemis."

"I keep my head on my shoulders." I say, a bit confused.

"Nobody ever taught you that expression?" He asked.

"Uh, no, Darrius. I spend half of the year as a wolf. The other half I'm making supply runs. I never exactly got the chance."

He sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to tell you about culture on this trip. Let's get going before someone else passes us."

I smile, and we ride on.


	6. Pureblood

**Happy Halloween! I hope you all have a great time today, October 31, 2014!**

Chapter 6

I don't expect this day to be normal. In fact I know with a certainty that rests in my bones that it won't be. A red sun rises, and that usually means death, and a lot of it, in an important way for Middle Earth. This may be the start of something. In truth I don't really know if I want to encounter it.

Darrius is silent in the morning, which is unusual for him. Bucky is skittish, and Swift is pawing at the ground, breaking his normal calm, collective composure. And me? Well, I feel like running south and not stopping until I keel over.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Something big." He said. "The trees were upset enough to touch the minds of humans and horses, though I do believe our winter selves have something to do with this."

"Do you know what it is?" I ask him quietly.

"There was a battle." He replies. "The elves and the orcs fought. Someone of importance died, I suspect that white rider who passed through was the one the trees are speaking of. Her name was Celebrian."

I almost say good riddance. Instead, I shove the thought away and ask, "Lord Elrond's wife died?"

"In mind, not body. She's going to the ocean to sail west to her afterlife."

"She would leave her family like that?"

"She is broken." Darrius said. "She went through a lot."

"She lived longer than any wolf ever has and will live, and I'm sure she had a good run." I say, as if it makes it okay. We'd grieve for a pack member, but I can't find it in me to grieve for the wraith-like elleth on the white horse that galloped to her doom on the road.

We keep riding towards our destination through the day, and rest for the night. Nothing eventful happens. I'm just starting to become bored(The horror) when we come across a group of battle worn elves and Celebrian.

We pass without words, and I realize Glorfindel is part of the procession. He has his head bowed, and luckily didn't notice the girl he saw stabbed in the head by a stick a few days ago was passing him without even a scratch in the place I got stabbed.

I have to say, he smells like a freakish combination of elf and wolf, sort of like our elves do when they're changing…

My heart freezes. I glance at Darrius. He knows it, too.

This elf has been bitten, recently. He'll change as soon as the days get warm enough, or he'll die.

As soon as we pass them, Darrius says, "You smell it?"

"Yes." I reply. "He got bitten."

"Watch them. He'll turn soon, and I'm sure he'll start to notice the effects within the week. I'll ride to Bree to get Evan, if he's changed, and the other two. If Glorfindel changes, bring him to the cabin. If he dies, meet me in Edoras."

I nod and reply, "If it's uncertain?"

"Stay with him. Try to keep him alive, but know if the venom is killing him, it won't stop. I'm going to find out who got him."

I nod again and turn the mare around. We part ways.

What happened to that elf?

* * *

><p>SIX HOURS AGO, GLORFINDEL POV<p>

This is crazy. These were supposed to be peaceful negotiations with the Dunedain chief, not all out war with orcs. Well, what better way to bond with your allies than to fight orcs with them?

I stab one orc through the chest and narrowly avoided an armored fist to the face, cutting it off instead. You have to be a whirlwind or die, meaning I get no time to catch my breath. Elves are supposedly natural fighters, but really, it's hard. We just have more stamina than a human or a dwarf. The Dunedain keep up nicely.

Soon, I find myself in a lull in the conflict. Confused, I glance around to see why the orcs aren't trying to tear me apart and freeze.

Standing on the other side of the small gap is a ten foot tall monster. It looks lupine, but stands like a man. It has oily, thin fur, scrawny arms, and a huge, long head full of razor sharp teeth. It had green eyes, wore no clothing, and was unscathed from the conflict.

Drool that looked like liquid metal laced with sulfur dripped from its mouth, killing the grass beneath it. I raise my weapons, but know that unless this thing isn't as tough as it looks, I am dead.

It snarls in a raspy laughter, and long sword-like claws grow from its fingernails. It opens its mouth and in a rocky, sandpapery, yet hollow voice says, "I am a Pureblood. I am a living weapon, the perfect beast. You cannot defeat me, yet you stand up to me. I do not like to eat food that tries to fight me. I like it terrified. You would make a fine wolf, though."

"You are a foul beast." I growl, raising a weapon, "Nothing more. Now either fight or run with your tail between your legs like the mangy dog you are."

Its eyes widened, and it gave a snotty snarling growl, pupils growing and then shrinking into slits. "We will see who is a mangy dog after this battle!"

And before I know that it's even moved, I'm on my back, sword flying through the air, and hideous lupine fangs in my chest.

Panic wells up in me as it tightens its grip. _It's eating me alive! It's eating me alive!_

I let out a pained scream as it begins to tear.

Celebrian's blade, gleaming silver, cuts through the creature's throat. Metallic, sulfur-smelling blood tinged with a clay-like red flies from the wound. The cut heals, but the wound has been dealt. Celebrian then turns to help me, and then gapes. I glance down at my shirt, covered in a mixture of my own and the creature's blood, and realize that the wounds are gone. On top of that, I can't feel any lingering pain from any wound on my body.

I decide not to focus on that for now. Instead, I grab my sword and rejoin the fighting, not bothering to wonder where the 'perfect beast' went.

We fought all night, and no one knew Celebrian had been captured and taken to the orc's camp until we won and found her.

Now we ride back in sorrow.

Most everyone has their heads bowed in grief. I have my head bowed so no one can see my face.

Everything smells so strongly now. I can hear things that even my elven ears shouldn't be able to detect. Colors are distorted, and I'm pretty sure my teeth are all k-nines.

We pass two travelers on the road, and I suppressed the urge to look up at the scent of wolf coming off of them. Their horses smelled weird, too.

I don't comment on the fact that a passing deer in the woods smells like food. How could I even think that?

The creature's comment continues to echo through my head. _"You would make a good wolf." _What did he mean by that? Do these, things, happening to me have something to do with that? What if he was venomous? What if I'm hallucinating and going to die? Why do I suddenly have no scars whatsoever?

* * *

><p><strong>I don't think I spelled Dunedain right. If I didn't, can someone please comment on it so I don't make this mistake in the future? Thanks!<strong>


	7. The Calm

**Hi, I hope you're all enjoying this story and don't worry I'm not going into romance. Because Artemis did not imprint, she will never fall in love. Ever. So now that that's cleared up and this story doesn't appear to be a cliché, we continue on!**

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

It's impossible to tell whether the elf will turn or die yet. He noticed the deer a few miles back, meaning that he didn't only get healed from the obvious wound he had gained fighting. I don't know what the silvery substance on him is yet, and I'll have to ask Darrius.

I don't think he noticed me. I had the mare walk in the woods while I jog to keep up with the horses. It's a jog for a girl with the stamina of a wild animal, anyways.

He's definitely picking up new sights and scents, and I can sense anxiety pouring off of him instead of grief, like his companions. He's also afraid. He's still creepy, just a little less so.

I'm sitting in a tree as he keeps watch over his camp. It's a cold night, very cold. I'm expecting it will frost, meaning while he's secure in his own skin, I'm not. He looks up after about five minutes and says, "You can come down now."

I jump down. He blinks in surprise. "You're the girl from the cabin."

"I am." I reply. "I assume you're not feeling yourself. You smell like a wolf."

"You do too." He replied defensively.

"It's because I am one." I reply, "And if you don't die, you'll be too, in a few days."

He sat down on a rock. "So, that's what's happening."

"There are upsides." I reply, "And some downsides. If you survive, you'll be a wolf until the temperatures drop, and will transform on and off in the winter. Then you'll only be an elf in the summer."

"You speak from experience? Do you work for that thing that bit me?"

"My pack has strict laws against biting elves. It purifies orcs, turns them into elves, and we don't exactly know what it would do to a born elf. And, thing? Was it a wolf or a human?"

"It was a ten foot tall wolf. It spoke, stood on two legs, and had a silvery saliva and blood."

"That's what's on your shirt." I remark. "Never seen anything like you've described, but Darrius has."

"Darrius?"

"The pack leader, he got bit by the same thing you did. It called itself a pureblood."

"Meaning?"

"It was born, not bitten, and an abomination." I reply.

He takes it in, looking at his feet.

"I'm just going to follow you for a few days. Just know that while cold temperatures will turn me. The warmer days get, the less stable you'll be." I unfasten my bracelet and say, "You need to not transform while you're on this, um, trip. I'm trying to help my kind stay secret. The herbs in this bracelet, when they come in contact with the skin, can help suppress the change."

He nods and says, "How will I know…"

"Oh, trust me, you'll know." I say. "It hurts like hell."

He nods again.

"I've got to go." I inform him, and I leave.

I go back for a bit, and then set up a crude camp and light a fire, staying by it.

Sun rises, and the cold night makes way to a chilly winter. I get up, douse the flames, and dart forwards. The elves have just broken camp. I ride Swift now, and sometimes the elf I spoke to last night will send a discreet glance in my direction.

I know that the bracelet he's wearing in his boot is helping him, and I don't necessarily need it now, or for a while. As the sun climbs, I notice he gets a bit shakier, and I decide to not surprise him. The last thing he needs is adrenaline, then magic leaves or no, he'd literally jump out of his skin. (His human one, anyways)

I trail them to the area near the harbor, where everyone trades tearful goodbyes. Then they head back to Imladris. On Glorfindel's watch on the third day, I approach him again.

"You seem okay, meaning you probably won't die if you stop using the herbs. Make up an excuse to leave and take it off, then go into the woods and take it off. I'll have to knock you out, though."

"Why?"

"So you don't go crazy, run off, and then get lost." I reply. "I've seen it happen. A guy named Berran turned in the woods and ran off. Nobody ever saw the poor guy again, though we did find his blood and bones in a warg den."

He looks a bit green.

"I won't lie to you. You Rivendel elves are creepy." I say. "When we told the last girl, Sabine, about this, she had a full blown panic attack, and she was an Amazon."

"Are you going to tell me your name?"

I have to admit, this took me a bit off-guard. "My name?"

"You do have one, don't you?"

"Yeah. My name is Artemis."

"I have never heard of a name like that."

"Where I come from, it belongs to the goddess of the hunt, and of the moon." I reply. "I already know your name, Glorfindel."

"I never get to introduce myself anymore." He complains.

"Get used to it. Soon you won't be able to speak."

He groans slightly. "I guess I got it into my head that I'd be able to talk in whatever this other form you're talking about is."

"It's a wolf."

"What will I look like?"

"I'd guess you'd be a white, tan, or light grey wolf." I replied. "The exact appearance, I'm not sure of. I do know your eyes won't change, though."

"So, I'll still have blue eyes."

I nod in confirmation. "I'll tell you what you look like if you sift, if you want me to."

"Okay." He says. I'm glad he didn't nod. If one of us nods one more time, both of our heads will fall off.

"I have to leave." I say. "I'll be in the woods. When you leave, find me in there."

"I guess I'll see you soon." He says as I leap into a tree and leave his line of sight. I have no idea what will happen when he comes here. I doubt he will survive. I really do, but it has to happen here, and not in sight of his friends, because either way, he will have to die.

* * *

><p><strong>This came up so soon after chapter 6 because this was originally all part of chapter six, then I realized it was a run-on chapter and divided it in two. I hope you enjoyed it, because I'm sure Glorfindel isn't.<strong>


	8. The Storm

Chapter 8

I watch, a silent observer in the woods. They travel for miles until Glorfindel says that he must depart in a very regal way and rides off onto a woodland path until his horse freaks and threatens to throw him. Glorfindel dismounts and the horse runs for Imladris. He enters the woods, and when he's far enough it, I reveal myself.

As I approach, he says, "You had me go in pretty far."

"It's going to hurt. A lot. This is out of sight and hearing range from any other elves, and one of our orcs-turned-elves asked the trees to stay silent about this."

"Orcs turned elves?"

"I already told you about them, Glorfindel." I say impatiently.

"Oh. Right."

"Head pounding too much to think clearly?"

"How did you guess?"

"I never went through this as far as I can remember, but I've been assigned to help others who have."

"Am I the only one going through this now?"

"No. There's a man. He got bitten by a rogue wolf who decided she loved him, and when he didn't return her feelings, she got mad and lashed out. We had to put her down before she could hurt anyone else."

"What was her name?"

"Calypso." I reply. "She's named appropriately."

"Who had it first?"

"A woman, the daughter of a titan, living on an island, cursed so that any man she loves is sent away and any man she doesn't dies."

He blinks in quite a bit of shock. "That is an appropriate name, then."

"Well, enough storytelling. The more you procrastinate, the worse it gets. Give me my bracelet back, and brace yourself."

He reaches into his boot and hands it to me. Nothing happens for a few seconds.

"Maybe you're wro… AAAAGH!" Blood spewed from his mouth. It was silvery, laced with liquid metal. He falls to the ground and continued to choke up the metallic liquid, eyes begging for it to stop. He then lies still. There's nothing I can do now but wait. If he doesn't wake up by sundown, he's dead for good. If he does, he'll shift.

Swift has seen this before. He walks up to me and shoots me a questioning look.

"Yes, he's doing the same thing as Darrius. I answer his unspoken questing. He snorts and leans down, nosing Glorfindel's face.

"He won't wake up for a while, boy. I suggest you get comfortable."

Swift snorts again and starts to graze.

We spend four hours like this.

Then Glorfindel sits bolt upright with a gasp. He breathes heavily, blood running down his jaw, eyes huge. When he finally can speak, he asks, "What happened?"

"You let the wolf lose, and died."

"What?"

"Listen, Glorfindel. It's why I didn't tell you this. You die either way, but if you stayed that way past sundown, you'd have stayed dead. Now you're about to shift, so brace yourself."

"Oh, dear valar why?" He asked, clutching his head in his hands.

Then his body began to shake. Every bone in his body started breaking. He let out a pained, animalish scream and vomited. I flinched. It always happened to people. The upside is that we all have a very, very high pain tolerance level after shifting the first few times.

He kept screaming for the whole thing until he couldn't make a sound. His muscles moved into position, and his fur grew. He lay there, panting and shaking, for a few moments. He'd turned into a silvery grey, tall, lanky wolf.

He then stood shakily and looked around in confusion.

* * *

><p>GLORFINDEL POV<p>

I have never felt that much pain in my entire life. I died again. I came back again, and now I'm a wolf. Now I'm an animal. I can't go back to Imladris.

The human and the horse watch me. The girl lowers herself to my level. I growl threateningly at her. I don't know her. She smells so human. The clothing nearby smells so much like an elf, like what I've lost. The horse's nervous eyes are threatening in a way I can't handle.

I turn to run, and then I black out, again.

* * *

><p>ARTEMIS POV<p>

I haul him up onto Swift's saddle and put on my bracelet. "Take him back home, Swift." I tell him, and he complies. I run at an incredible pace after the horse.

We reach the cabin in five hours and I close the gate and take the elf off of the horse. Rachel runs outside with a shocked expression. "What happened?"

"The thing that bit Darrius came back. It got an elf lord, Glorfindel."

"I hope he's okay."

"He was terrified, like everyone when they first change. I'm sure I was like it, even though I can't remember it." I reply.

He began to stir and I say, "Open up the gate to the new wolf thing we set up a while ago. We can't let him out into the woods yet or we'll never see him again. Darrius is going to get Evan."

"Oh." Rachel said. Then she darted off and opened it up. Glorfindel's blue eyes opened and he jumped to his feet, panicked, and ran to the only place that seemed safe for a wolf, through the gate and into our fenced off section of woods. The fences were too high for a wolf to jump, and surrounded a good sized area.

Rachel closed the gate.

"I hope he makes it out of this okay." She says.

I nod, looking to the fence as a frightened howl rose. "Poor guy."

Then we walk away, and I put Swift back in the stable.

Darrius rides in with another wolf. This wolf is in a crate, because it is very much awake, in the cart that Tug and Whiney (Our packhorses) are pulling. Tug is tugging, and Whiney is whining. Bucky is too busy to buck.

We close the gate, open the other gate, and chase Evan through. I close it.

"The elf changed?" Asked Darrius.

"Yes." I reply. "He took it like everybody else and freaked the hell out."

Then thunder rolled through the clouds.

"Ah, crap." Rachel said. "If we get all those freakishly close lightning strikes, we're all going to be in there."

So, naturally, we stay inside the whole time while those poor guys outside have to deal with all of the freakishly close lightning strikes.

Then I remember that adrenaline can cause a change and bolt into the fences off woods. A lightning strike hits right next to me.

It's a miniature explosion. It startles me, and an adrenaline rush comes on. I thrash right out of my own skin and sprint away from it, blinded by panic.

I run into the small clearing, where I see Glorfindel, who is wearing a cloak.

He stares right into my eyes and recognizes me.

"Artemis?"

I crouch, ears flattened against my skull, soaked. I growl.

Lightning strikes nearby, and while I run, he jumps out of his elven skin again.

Soon we're all wolves in the safety of a small cave. I change back in about an hour and cover myself in a cloak.

Glorfindel and Evan seem fine with me now that they've seen me as a wolf. They stay close the whole time, panting.

Evan is a typical heavy furred black and white wolf. I know for a fact he'll do a lot of shedding. We waited out the storm in silence and as soon as it cleared, I got up and left. Evan ran off his own way, but Glorfindel stayed close. He was calmer, and I realized it was because he'd shifted back during the storm. He had regained his composure.

We entered the compound and I closed the gate, then got into clean clothing. Glorfindel wandered the clearing the cabin was in. I know he's okay. As I sit out on the porch, he lies down and starts to read my book.

"I know you can't understand a word of that, or what I'm saying, Glorfindel." I inform him. He blinks at me with no comprehension and flicks his ear. I roll my eyes at him.

He goes back to glaring at the book, and trying to see it around his nose.

"Hey, Braden, the new guy doesn't like your books either!"

"Shuddup!"

I laugh. Glorfindel is confused.

I get hit by a rotten tomato in the back of my head. Glorfindel starts laughing in a strange way and falls off of the balcony.

I jump up wipe a bunch of it off my hair, and chuck it back at him through the open window.

He ducks, and it makes a disgusting squelching as it comes into contact with the wall.

A raindrop hits my nose. I blink, and then look up. It's raining.

"Perfect timing!"

* * *

><p><strong>Glorfindel's wolf form is an Italian wolf, and Evan is a Great Plains wolf. Italian wolves only live in Italy, surprise surprise, and Great plains wolves live in just about every part of North Anmerica, so they're quite common.<strong>


	9. Discovery

Chapter 9

Weeks have gone by, and everything is going smoothly. I'm firmly in my human skin; Evan adjusted to his wolf skin. Glorfindel is chasing a rabbit.

I don't know how he went from prissy elf lord to chasing rabbits in a month. We have had some dry lightning storms, and I shifted once or twice in them, but otherwise everything is great.

We have all the supplies we need, I've visited Imladris, and Braden is off in the shire with his special girl.

I'm throwing an apple back and forth with Gabe. Gabe is running to catch it and throwing it back at me. I say that I'm bad at aiming my throws. I'm not. I just want to wear him out. I think it's working.

He jumps for one and catches it, then throws it back at me. I throw it at the fence about ten posts from him. He has to dive for it. That kid is tough as nails, I have to admit. I'm sure the reason for that is the fact that he was born a wolf and wolves have really high stamina and are really tough.

He catches the apple, then bites it.

"I thought you only ate meat!" I called.

"Mama says that eating apples is good for you." He replies.

"Yep, that definitely sounds like something Elanor would pull." I snort. From day one he'd whined about eating plants because he thought they were bad for him.

He continued munching on the apple, and it occurred to me that he didn't know apples were plants. So, just to stir up some drama, I said, "You do realize Apples grow on trees, right?"

He spat it out and started wiping it off of his tounge as fast as he could. "EWW! GROSS! PLANT STUFF!"

I laugh. He runs inside and I hear his door closing.

"Why'd you do that?" Asks Damien.

"Because I was bored."

"You terrorized a little kid because you're bored?" Asked Sabine.

"I didn't terrorize him, I informed him. Besides, Elanor lied to the poor kid. I want her to apologize."

"So you terrorized the little kid to piss off Elanor." Sabine replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Pretty much." I reply.

"She needs someone to fight with." Hadaran explained to Sabine. She'd only been turned the previous year. "She's one of those wolves who likes to nip at the heels of everyone else. If she doesn't have someone to fight with, she gets all melancholy and useless.

"I do not!" I snap indignantly.

"Yes you do."

"I so don't. Wait, I see what you're doing here. You're the one who picks fights. I just instigate them." I say.

He scowls.

Sabine grins.

We hold that position for a while until Evan trots up onto the porch with a dead rabbit and begins to eat it.

"He takes rabbit hunting way too seriously." I say. "You're not actually supposed to catch them, just scare the shit out of them."

"Poor little bastard." Damien sighed.

"Even if they do mock us all the time, they don't deserve death."

Evan grunted and returned to eating.

"Does he have to do that on the porch?" Asked Sabine.

"Meh." I shrugged.

"Nobody's going to stop him." Damien replied.

Glorfindel trots up, frowns at Evan, and then lays down right between me and Sabine. Evan finishes his meal, gets up, and walks away. He didn't leave any evidence.

A bunch of elves enter the area. Glorfindel's ears perk up and he closes his mouth, probably self conscious that he'd been panting lazily when they showed up.

They walked into the area, looking a bit surprised that there was a wolf acting like a big dog on our porch, and one of them in particular announces himself. "My name is Erestor, I am from Imladris. We've been searching for an elven lord who went missing a few weeks ago. His name is Glorfindel. Did he pass through here?"

"No." I reply. "I've only seen the three elves that live here for a few weeks until you showed up." And it's truthful. Glorfindel hasn't been an elf for a few weeks, and he's not exactly creepy elf lord Glorfindel right now.

Glorfindel got up and walked away just so they wouldn't see his eyes. He'll be back when they leave. He knows the importance of our secret by now.

"If you do have any hints to his whereabouts, please tell us."

"If he's an elf lord and he's missing," I say, "Haven't you thought of the possibility that someone took him?"

"We have." He replied. "But we have no clues as to what, and the trees say they were sworn into silence about this particular matter."

"Oh. Well, I hope you find him."

"We think a wolf may have done it."

"Excuse me?"

"He was attacked by a wolf-like creature on the battlefield, and vanished along the way back to Imladris. We tracked him into the woods, where his trail vanished. We did find wolf tracks in the area."

"To be quite frank, there are wolf tracks everywhere." Damien says. "You can't blame them for something they had the ability to do."

He nods and says, "If anything comes up, tell someone. We need to find him."

Then he and the party leave.

"They know." Sabine says. "Why else bring up the wolves?"

Glorfindel walks up and I get an image of him spying on them to see what they really know.

"What does he want?" Asks Damien.

"To spy on the elves. I'd need Darrius's word."

"And you have it." Darrius says.

I nod at Glorfindel, and he follows the elves.

* * *

><p>GLORFINDEL POV<p>

What I really want to do is make sure they're not hunting the pack, but that doesn't stop me from wondering what has changed since I left. I also want to know if anyone else was bitten.

I can understand what the elves are saying.

"They were lying." Lindir says. I creep through the bushes, listening carefully.

"I know, Lindir." Erestor replies. "We got their attention when we brought up the wolves. Do you think they realize we know about them?"

"I think they do." Lindir replies. "You were far from subtle. The only question is, which wolf is Glorfindel? I want to make sure they did not kill him."

They know. They're going to drive out the pack, including me.

"I think it was the silver one that was with them. It has his eyes."Erestor says.

"Meaning I now have to drive out a good friend."

"It is too dangerous to let them stay, Lindir. They may be minions of the rising darkness. We know they have eyes on us." My lip curls and drool drips unattractively from my muzzle. If they could see me now, they wouldn't think I was Glorfindel at all, and I a way, I'm not.

"I hope Elladan and Elrohir aren't too upset about this."

Maybe I should bite one of them now. I'm seriously thinking about it, and then I remember that most of the time, people die from the bite, or it simply doesn't affect them. There's a very small chance that someone will actually turn, and if I kill them, their ideas about the pack would be reinforced.

They ride on in silence, and I am careful not to make a sound or a sudden movement.

And then a Rabbit sees me, freaks out, and runs into the path. I flatten myself to the ground and freeze.

"We're being watched." One guard remarks.

"Indeed we are." Replies Erestor. His eyes search the area, and he says something in westron that I'm frustrated to realize I can't understand.

They dismount, bows drawn.

I can't run, or they'll shoot me.

They spread out, and I keep hiding.

Then Erestor's white horse spots me and lets out a startled neigh.

Everyone is pointing their bows at me. They see me now.

I know I'm going to die.

"That's the same one from the cabin." Says Lindir.

I try to look submissive, but it doesn't work.

"If you're Glorfindel," Says Erestor, "Stand up and face us."

I do so, in hopes that they won't kill me if I do. I look right into his eyes, and he says, "That's him."

"You will tell the rest of the pack to leave Imladris immediately or we will force them out." Lindir says.

I growl and send him an image of Gabriel. Then I show him a bit about the pack, and then I show him them in a very morbid way chasing them all out while fear makes some snap torturously out of their skin and into wolf forms and then the elves shooting them. It was a challenge. _'Is this what you want?'_

All of the elves see it. I can't tell them how I feel with words, but I can show them things.

Erestor shakes his head and says, "I am sorry, Glorfindel, but you must…."

I lost it. I can't understand him, but I know what he was saying. That I have to leave, and so does the pack.

I turn and race out of the circle of elves, growling as I passed Lindir, who looked horrible. I don't feel bad at all. I really don't like them.

I think it's time to talk to Elrond, er, sort of.

* * *

><p><strong>And now the wolves are in trouble. <strong>


	10. Total Control

Chapter 10

GLORFINDEL POV

I can't believe with all the crap that's been going on that Elrond is actually alone.

I walk out of the bushes and he looks me right in the eyes, then shock clouds his features. "Impossible. Glorfindel?"

I nod.

"They said they found your body."

I send him a questioning image of Erestor and Lindir as I'd seen them moments ago, pointing their bows at me.

He nods, and says, "What did they want?"

I showed him the cabin, and the people, then the people as wolves, and then them as people again. Then I showed pictures of elves riding in on horses and chasing them out, including myself in that imagery.

"All the elves you showed me attacking went missing weeks ago, just after you disappeared."

I showed him a picture the creature that bit me, giving him a questioning look.

"We were attacked by it, and they chased it out."

My expression clearly asked, _'where?'_

"The hidden pass."

I race up there and begin to track their scent. It's almost all gone, but I can still follow it. I do so at full pace. I follow it far from Imladris, and realize that the scents are mingling with orcs. They've been captured. The creature, the pureblood's scent, is also there. I can even see the gouges in the ground where he had run.

I race back into the woods and show Artemis what I'd seen, and she instantly said she'd be going for a bit, jumped on the black mare, Swift, and I led them towards the trail and onto it. We kept going until both I and the horse were exhausted. Before us were the misty mountains.

ARTEMIS POV

If I go into those mountains, I'll shift, no questions asked, but I have to do it. He'll shift back to his elf form.

I had to ride back and grab him some clothing in the night, and then we set off. Swift came with us, stubborn as ever, and Glorfindel leads the way.

As soon as we hit the first snowdrift, I shift.

So does he, as a matter of fact.

I freeze up and growl at him, and he stared at me, face a bit red as he jumps behind Swift and puts on clothes.

I searched for the scents we were following, and found it. Glorfindel mounted Swift.

I began to follow the scent. I growl at Swift as soon as he gets within ten feet of me, and the horse snorts, not afraid of a little wolf like me, and presses forwards. I almost bite him in the leg, and then he backs off.

We continue for about twenty or so minutes before I lose the scent in the snow. I growl in frustration and begin circling, searching for the scent. Glorfindel takes a hint and says, "We will continue to…"

And then Swift takes a step forwards and the ground they were standing on collapses. Swift screams. Glorfindel jumps off of him before he can be crushed. Swift's leg breaks.

I dart around the sides, making noises close to barking and growling as I search for a way to get to them without falling in.

I remember when it was the other way around.

There's nothing I can do. Glorfindel is obviously injured, he's bleeding, and I'm sure his arm is at least fractured.

I let out a whining noise and he looks at me, realizing he's stuck.

"Get help!"

I start to howl. I won't leave a pack member, not until I've exhausted every option.

I keep howling, even though Glorfindel shouts at me to stop.

Then the man I saved a while back, coming up the same trail as us with a hound of his own, spots us.

He sees the predicament, and luckily has a rope. He sees Glorfindel and Swift in the hole. Swift lets out a pained neighing noise.

The man ties the rope in a loop and lowers it for Glorfindel, who wraps it around himself and begins to shakily climb the wall. As soon as he's up. I stand by the edge, waiting for him to try and help Swift.

"Artemis, we can't get him out, and even if we could, he wouldn't make it to safety." He says in the elven language.

I turn and snarl at him and position myself on the edge of the pit. My paw slips on the stones and I scramble backwards and find a new place to try and climb down. When they try to get me to leave I start howling again. When a wolf is mourning, she howls, and it's the most saddening sound one can hear.

They both flinch.

As Glorfindel mounts the man's horse with the man, the horse bucks both of them off and screeches at Glorfindel, ready to stamp him into the ground. I launch myself at the horse's throat. There is a startled cry from the man, who ducks out of my way.

The horse backs up and tosses its head, screaming. I snarl in fury and dart towards it again. It turns and starts to flee, then turns and kicks me, hard. I tumble to the edge of the chasm, and then go over. I dig my claws into the edge and scrabble wildly for a purchase on the snow-slicked stone, and begin to slide down. I growl in anger as I feel myself losing my grip.

Glorfindel grabs my leg and pulls, added strength assisting my ascent. As soon as I'm up, there are orcs everywhere.

"Good job, Artemis." Glorfindel growls at me. "You brought them all down on us." I growl.

The orcs say something in a language that makes my lips curl angrily and my spine tingle. I don't like it one bit. Then it says some garbage in westron, and the man and elf drop their weapons.

Swift is hauled from the pit, and I can't help but feel a little bit of satisfaction, and then they try to get us to go with them.

I lunge at the leader, but a huge warg grabs me by the scruff of the neck and disables me like a puppy, curled slightly in on myself.

I growl in rage and humiliation at the warg, which doesn't seem to care. He drags me with them, and we enter an orc dungeon. A chain is attached to my paw and to a ring in the ground, Frigid air keeps me from shifting. The man and Glorfindel are placed in cells, chained similarly to me, and we're left there.

I lunge at the door and snarl at the guard, who skitters nervously away from the door. He doesn't trust that the chain will hold.

I keep lunging, snapping angrily at the door until my wolf mind deems it pointless. I then bite down on the chain and try to break it.

"That is never going to work, Artemis." Glorfindel says. I growl at him and send him an image of him being cooked and eaten by orcs while he was still alive.

Glorfindel shuddered. "Carry on."

The man asks something in westron. I howl.

"SHUDDUP!" Snaps the guard. I lunge, and my chain miraculously snaps, and I slam into the door, the guard recoiling with a terrified squeal, cuff and remaining chain links attached to my leg rattling and the door banging as it almost came lose. The guard points a crossbow at me. I growl and get ready to spring again.

Instead of shooting at me, the orc, not exactly sure a crossbow could kill me, ran away. I smashed into the door again, and one of the hinges popped loose.

I lunge again and slam into the door, and it almost opens.

Then comes the pureblood.

He looks into my eyes and growls something at me, and I realize that no matter if I like it or not, I have to listen to this guy. I sit down studiously and lower my defenses.

He looks at Glorfindel, and growls another something. Glorfindel shifts into a wolf and mirrors my posture.

The man looks shocked.

The pureblood opens our cell doors and gives us an image of us flanking him, and we do so as he walks away, following him without any heed to the cries of the man and the nearby imprisoned elves. I flick an uninterested ear in their direction and continue to follow our Pureblood.

Purebloods are way above wolves, and we do what they say. It's the way of the wild.

We enter a large room, and the Pureblood turns to address us.

"You two are strong wolves. I chose you, Glorfindel, and you Artemis, though I had to bite you in the cradle so you could gather the strength you need. I need two wolves to bring the others to me. I would have liked to have Darrius with me, but you two, my lieutenants, now outrank him. Get the other wolves and bring them to me."

We received clothing and changed to our first bodies, a human and an elf, and exited the mountain. Swift was no longer needed, as he healed.

We belong to the Pureblood. We do what the pureblood wants because he's our true alpha.

We both bear his seal, a red claw mark in a velvet circle on our foreheads.

As we walk down the path, I say, "I can't imagine what possessed us to ever fight the Pureblood."

"Neither can I." Glorfindel replies.

I laugh to myself. "We must have been stupid. He's the one who gave us power, and we abused it. Now let's go get the pack."


	11. Just wolves

**In this chapter I'll be introducing more points of view, and the Lord of the Rings strain will occur, with some details altered because Aragorn is in jail, Glorfindel is a winter wolf, Lindir and Erestor are in jail, and other stuff like that. So this won't be exactly canonical.**

Chapter 11

LEGOLAS POV

I've been looking for Estel for a few days now. I'm in Bree, where I met up with one of those Winter Wolves, Braden, heading back to Imladris. He says he'll help me search for Estel, but so far hasn't had much luck.

Four more hobbits walk into the bar. There's something, off, about them. One of them seems a bit burdened. Hobbits don't usually act like that, or so Braden has told me.

Said Winter Wolf walks up and says, "That one, the scraggly brown haired one, has something dark. Seems like he's been carryin' it 'round for a while now. I'd keep an eye on 'im."

I nod, knowing that the winter wolf can sense these things.

Only some elves know about his kind, and it's a guarded secret. So, he's perfectly fine to be out and about.

He walks up to the bar and strikes up a conversation with one of the more perky, dim looking one of the traveling companions. I listen closely, but keep my eyes near the scrawny one and the fat one.

"Baggins?" Asked the one Braden was talking to. "Yah, I know Baggins! He's right over there!" And he points at the scrawny one. My eyes widen a bit. Word of black riders on the streets, which I know are Nazgul, are looking for him. Now it's all clear. This hobbit has one of the rings.

Everyone stares at the hobbit as he drags his friends out of there. Someone bangs into him, and a gold ring goes flying. He falls, and it falls onto his finger. He vanishes.

I watch and listen, and see him reappear, shaken, under a table.

I walk over and grab him. He jumps.

"You should be more careful, _Baggins." _I say, emphasizing the last word. I pull him up to the room I have at this lousy inn.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"Are you frightened?"

"Yes."

"Not nearly enough." I reply. "I know what is hunting you." I pull off my hood and he gasps. "You're an elf!"

"I am." I reply.

Braden enters the room and says, "Somebody getting' hunted by 'em black riders shouldn't keep idjits for comp'ny."

"Who're you?"

"Name's Braden Yarrow." He replied.

"The hobbit that disappeared nine years ago?"

"That'd be me."

"Where did you go?"

"I had a wee illness and I had to go for treatment without tellin' nobody. Y'see, it's s'possed to be secret."

"Oh."

"You seem very interested on changing the topic." I say, casting an annoyed side glance at Braden. Hobbits, no matter how accented they are, love to talk.

"It wasn't anything!" Baggins said defensively.

"Your very tone says it was. I have met people who can walk unseen if they wish to, but to disappear entirely is a rare gift."

"An' I'm very knowledgeable about Rare gifts." Braden replies. "You'd need a ring of power to pull somethin' like that."

"Who told you?" Asked Baggins.

"Several books." Replied Braden.

The door burst open and Baggins's three companions raced in holding a pitchfork and several candles, and a chair. "Let 'im go, you…" The fat elf trailed off as he saw me and Braden.

"It is alright." Baggins says.

"You were just abducted by an elf and a misfit hobbit." Stupid said in a bit of surprise.

"We didn't abduct 'im, we probably saved his life! Get in here before someone sees you blunderin' 'round swinging those pig stickers an' calls in some ruffians to kick us out."

We waited out the Nazgul attack in solemn silence. Someone had let lose all the horses.

"What are they?" Asked Frodo, listening to the furious shrieks.

"They're Nazgul. Servants of Sauron." I told them. "They hunt for that ring without cease. It calls to them."

"They are right fowl creatures they are." Said Braden. "More fowl than whatever too Art, Glor, and Est." He always abbreviated their names when they talked about the three. Artemis, Glorfindel, and Estel. All three missing. Estel's horse had been found stampeding across an open plain, and later Swift had been found with the dead body of a guardsmen, his name branded into his skin.

I had ridden Swift here. He ran with a limp, but was a reliable, loyal animal. He was waiting for us outside of the inn right now.

"Is that horse theirs?" Pippin asked, pointing at Swift.

"No, he is mine." I replied. "He's waiting for us so we can leave."

"Oh." Pippin said. "Why is he keeping that leg in the air?"

"It was broken." Braden replied. "poor 'orse fell into a pit trap in the mountains. His rider, Artemis, and an elf named Glorfindel were lost. We found 'in limpin' around the countryside carryin' a dead elf. Poor thing was really shaken up."

"Poor horse." Sam said somberly. "Nobody deserves to be crippled like that."

"It was just after we found him that Braden developed his accent." Legolas said.

"You soun' like Artemis when you say things like that."

"I blame drinking."

"I probably should stop, then." Pippin said.

An extra violent Nazgul scream silenced any further speech that night.

* * *

><p>ARAGORN POV<p>

Every once and a while I can see the pureblooded beast. He either picks his next meal or decides who to try and turn into a servant. I've been unlucky, staying in sight of the orcs, who like to torture people, but at the same time lucky to stay out of the sight of the wolf-man.

I haven't seen the wolf or Glorfindel since the beast took control of them and took them away. Sometimes I can hear him refer to them as his lieutenants.

A woman named Sabine was brought in, and when he took control of her, she turned into a black wolf with tan freckles, and had to listen to him.

But today, I guess my luck has turned sour. He has me dragged to my feet, and gives a summoning growl. Sabine the wolf walks in and bites me, hard.

All of my wounds heal after she bites me, and she stands guard outside of my cell when they leave.

"Estel! Are you alright?" Lindir calls from the cell next to mine.

"I-I'm better than ever." I say, more than a bit shocked. "I have no injures whatsoever."

"That is what happened to Gallorin."

"And?"

"He died."

I look a few cells over and see an old corpse rotting, soaked in blood, on the ground. I shudder. This could very well be the end of Aragorn, son of Arathorn.

* * *

><p>ARTEMIS POV<p>

I walk through the woods, my elven brother in arms by my side. Our mission is simple, The rogue wolves must be stopped and brought to justice, and we'll do it.

I spot Gabriel in the clearing, and Elanor and her imprint. We'll drag him along, I decide, if we have to.

I grab my bow, notching an arrow to the string, and so does he. We'll injure the man and Elanor and bring Gabriel with us. If he runs, I run him down.

I fire, and Glorfindel fires. The arrows hit our targets in the arms, pinning them to the wood behind them. Gabriel runs. I race out of the woods and grab him. We drag him and Elanor to the woods, and Glorfindel decides to end the imprint. Elanor's shriek of horror as he raises the knife can be heard for miles.

And then I'm on the ground, restrained by Darrius, and I can see that Glorfindel is being held down by Gale.

I fight, and so does my brother in arms.

They hit us hard across the head. I black out.

My eyes open. This is weird. I feel like I'm floating. I'm surrounded by this warm fog, and a small glowing blue wolf is surrounded by a blue cloud. I lock eyes with the wolf, and suddenly I am the wolf, looking at a glowing orange girl in a summertime scene.

I go back to being the girl, and I realize that both sides are trapped inside of a dark sphere, tendrils of darkness reaching into my haven.

I feel for a weapon, and find one of my old knives. I feel like myself again. I know what I was doing was horribly wrong. I can't stand that they could control me so easily.

The tendrils land. One is a wolf, in the sphere of heat, and the other a girl, in the fog of winter. Both of them are black voids. Both me and my wolf form lunge. Wolf bites into darkness, tearing. I slash at the wolf attacking me, and I realize that I've cut my wolf.

Then I know what's going on. I have to kill one side of me to break this control. I can kill the girl, or I can kill the wolf.

I zip into my wolf form to heal it, and the girl lunges. I snap at her unconsciously and she swings her knives at me. I bite her arm and throw her at the heat sphere. The wolf on the other side is thrown into the cold. Then I can't see them anymore. I can't go back and forth. The sphere shatters, and I flow into my body again.

* * *

><p>GALE POV<p>

I watch in shock.

Artemis and Glorfindel are rapidly shifting from elf or human to wolf, and they thrash about, as if fighting.

Glorfindel stops first, as a wolf. Then Artemis, also a wolf.

Then their eyes open.

* * *

><p>ARTEMIS POV<p>

Who are these people? What's going on? Where am I?

It smells like human, elf, dwarf, and hobbit. An incredible feeling of loss that I can't place washes over me, replaced by fright, and then anger. Humans did something to me to make me feel loss. So did these creatures. Besides me is a silver wolf.

My lip curls at the man who smells like a wolf reaches towards me. I leap and snap my jaws around his neck. He shoves me off, wound healing, and throws me towards the door. I bolt out of it, followed by my silver brother.

I flee out of the section of woods marked by a pack's scent. I dodge the cliff edge where there are elf homes and run from the forest. The mountains harbor a sense of foreboding. I can't go there. My silver brother and I keep running. We leave the woods and keep going, until we run right into an elf and five hobbits. I freeze, snarling at the hobbit that seems familiar. He stares at me and says something awfully familiar. It hurts so much.

"Artemis?...?"

I bare my teeth at him. And my silver brother does the same at the sound of the second word. I feel a cold rage. Inside of me, everything is a freezing temperature. I hate everything that deepens it.

I lunge at him, and so does my silver brother.

Suddenly, my cold leaves. It happens as soon as my blow lands. I stand there in confusion for a few moments, and suddenly he's a wolf, a red wolf, and he's snarling.

He smells like the other pack. The cold returns. I snap at him again. My brother does the same.

I lunge, and the gold haired elf knocks me out of the way. I land hard on my side, roll, spring up, and begin circling him. His eyes are conflicted. Suddenly I remember him. I saved his life, and he saved mine. Once, he meant something to me more than just some stupid face. He'd been a friend.

Memories of the red wolf also returned. He was a friend, too. Silver brother was also remembering.

Braden, red-wolf's name is Braden.

Blond elf doesn't know what's happening. He fires an arrow at the ground in front of me. He betrayed me first.

I lunge and sink my teeth into his bow arm, knocking him down.

Braden barrels into me, and I am forced to let go. I stagger a few paces back. Then I snarl at him. Silver brother races towards Braden and attacks. Then something slices into my side and I yelp, leaping away. It's a sharp-blade.

Injured, I run. Silver brother follows me.

We run into a stretch of woods, unclaimed, and I lay down in a cave. Silver brother lays beside me, and we share what we remembered. I gain his name, Glorfindel, as well as my own, Artemis. He gains them, too.

We also remember what we are, or were. Now we're just wolves. And to tell the truth, I'm okay.

* * *

><p><strong>Sabine is a eastern timber wolf, and Braden is a red wolf. Now that Artemis and Glorfindel are regular wolves(Or are they), they're less important for the moment. Reason, they ran away. <strong>


	12. New Wolves

Chapter 12

LEGOLAS POV

We've been walking for a few days. My wound has healed, and my senses are sharper. Braden has informed me, out of the hearing of our companions, that I will either turn into a wolf, or I will die.

There's really no way of controlling when I'll shift. He says he shifted because Artemis and Glorfindel had been freezing and had transferred that all to him, and once it had worn off, he'd shifted back.

Explaining to the Hobbits had been difficult. Yes, he had been an elf before he'd been bitten. No, he's not guaranteed to survive. Yes, Braden turned into a wolf. No, he's not a werewolf, he's a winter wolf. No, we are not going to eat or bite you, hopefully.

As we enter the woods to Rivendel, a wolf pads out into the open.

"GAH! ANOTHER ONE!" Shouts Merry.

The wolf tilts his head in confusion and gives an odd humming noise.

"Relax, Evan's not crazy." Braden said.

I turn and ask, "Are all the wolves in the woods here Winter Wolves?" I ask.

"The wargs aren't, an' they've been responsible for the deaths of quite a few Wolves."

I nod, taking it as a yes. Every wolf in this forest was a Winter wolf.

Evan trots up and hands us a note. Then I almost jump out of my skin as he shows Braden and I an image of the place in the misty mountains where Aragorn, Lindir, and the other elves are being kept.

"Thanks Ev."

The grunt the wolf sent was all the reply we needed as he ran off.

"What just happened?" Asked Sam.

"Pack link." Braden replied. "Scared 'im."

I glare at the Hobbit. "He found where some of our friends are being kept."

"Let's get you to Rivendel." Braden says. He dismounts Swift and says, "You're goanna have to ride him." He says. Then he whistles sharply, and waited a few moments. A blue grey horse stopped beside Swift. "This is Marina." He says. "All you have to do is hold on. Swift and Marina know their own way around."

Two hobbits got on each horse, and Marina ran ahead, Swift at a limping pace behind her, down the road to Rivendel.

"You should stay in the forest. There are two parts of changing, if you make it through the first, neither are pleasant. You know where the Cabin is?"

I nod.

"Head towards there." The pack is waiting by the mountains. There's a fenced off area in the cabin. Go there when you shift."

I nod again, and then Braden turns and heads for the mountains.

I walk to the cabin, and enter the fenced off area, and no sooner do I do so than I start spewing blood. I stare in shock at it after the first bout. "S-So this i-is what he meant." I choke out feebly and then pain rockets up my spine and I'm pretty sure I spit out every ounce of blood in my body before blacking out.

When I wake up, it's almost sundown. I'm freezing and soaked in my own blood. Then heat springs into my limbs. Maybe I'll be okay.

And then My finger breaks.

It's small, but it still hurts.

Then the rest of my fingers break, bending and reshaping all at once in front of my horrified gaze. Then my arms break, and I scream to the heavens as my legs follow, and then my neck, and my skull bursts open and elongates. My spine snaps, and a gargled scream follows. Humiliation, fear, and pain are all I can feel. I soiled myself and vomited.

Then my muscles start to move and writhe beneath my skin. I lay there, eyes filled with tears of pain, limply, unable to bring myself to move as I complete the change.

I force myself to draw breaths as I lay there long after the change has occurred, collecting myself.

Braden had said that sometimes, the first changes could be quick. His had been very quick. It had hurt a lot, he'd puked his guts out, but he'd been fine. He'd said he'd seen a woman named Sabine change for the first time, and it was very long, much more so than Braden's. He said that those ones were the worst, that it was a random selection. I guess that's what I got.

I finally got myself to stand on shaky legs that I can hardly move right. My joints are messed up, they bend the wrong ways. My tail is so foreign, I don't know what to do with it.

I limp over to a stream and look at my reflection. I'm tall, puffy, and white, except for the fact that I'm covered in blood and puke.

I wade into a calm part of the stream for a bit, and then wade out, wolf instincts taking over, and shaking myself dry. I look back into the stream. I look okay, now.

Evan jumps over the fence and walks up, then flashes me an image of a rabbit with a really distorted face taunting him, with a warning tinge. I got the message. Look out for Rabbits.

I stand out in these woods, a lot. So does he, but not as badly as I do. These wolves were meant to be winter wolves.

I follow Evan as he leads me somewhere. Then I spot a brown rabbit.

Its face was so taunting. The face hadn't been distorted in the image.

It turned and started bobbing away. My legs moved on their own.

* * *

><p>ELROND POV<p>

I'd heard Legolas was turning into a winter wolf. But standing here watching him chase a rabbit…

I am sure Hell just froze over.

* * *

><p>ARAGORN POV<p>

I'm a freaky looking wolf. Lindir looks good as a wolf.

The Pureblood hasn't come for us yet. I'm glad for that. I'm even more glad when an entire pack of wolves busts us out of our cells.

I follow the white wolf, who is obviously the alpha. We run from the cave, and Sabine follows us. She runs at full speed.

I'm not very fast. Neither is Lindir. I count myself lucky. Everyone else who was bitten either joined the Pureblood and left or died. If they weren't affected by it, they were fed to the wargs.

I run forwards with the pack, and we leave the misty mountains, running down a path. One by one the other wolves started to transform. The first was a Dwarf. I refrained from looking, as he had no clothing on. He mounted one of the horses after rectifying that situation and we continued on. The next was an Elleth, and then a Hobbit with red hair.

Soon, everyone but Lindir and I were in a two-legged form. We ran by the horses, and made it to a cabin. They cleared out a lot of blood from a fenced off area, and I almost panicked when I realized it belonged to Legolas.

Then I saw a white wolf walking around, and realized that Legolas had survived.

Another wolf was nearby. Lindir and I walked up. Legolas sent me an image of him being bitten by the brown wolf that had saved our lives after trying to kill her.

I showed him a picture of Sabine biting me.

Evan showed us a picture of a fox-like wolf biting him. Lindir showed us the pureblood.

The elves that had been saved returned to Imladris. Erestor is still wondering how my father will react to this.

I think my father will kill me when I turn back into a man. He really will. Elladan, Elrohir, and I told him we'd try not to get too drastically injured. I hope he takes this well, and I hope he doesn't shoot the messenger, literally.


	13. A day in the life

Chapter 13

ARTEMIS POV

I'm actually happier than I've been in a while. I'm just running around, carefree, doing whatever I want. Glorfindel likes it, too. I've paid a visit to the shire, chased some idiot sheep, and now I'm taking Glorfindel to visit the ocean.

Time has ceased to matter. Glorfindel doesn't have the sea longing since he banished his elf form.

Here we are, emerging onto a white sandy beach. He stares at it in open awe. I walk up to the ocean, and a wall of water rushes at me. I leap, twist around, struggling to gain purchase in the sand, and race back onto the shore, panting as it crashes down.

As it washes around my paws, I lick it, and then shake my head, disgusted. It tastes like salt.

Glorfindel charges a wave, and then freezes as it towers above him and runs back, but not fast enough. It crashes down around him. I yelp and scramble backwards as he flees the water, shaking himself dry.

I warily watch the waves, and so does he. Then I notice a fish flopping on top of his head and balance on my back legs and bite it, then retreat a few paces.

He blinks, and it looks funny. His ears are soaked and sticking to the sides of his head, and his fur is also soaking. So it looks like he has bumps on his head instead of ears.

Then he goes for the fish. I back up, and he loses his grip on the sand and his limbs splay out and his muzzle digs into the sand. He scrambles up, looking at his fur mournfully. He is absolutely covered in sand.

I proceed to eat the fish. It tastes good. Nowonder those bears were hanging around the waterfall and catching them as they jumped.

He playfully smacks my muzzle with a paw. I mock growl and get ready to spring, then a wave washes over my paws and soaks my belly. I jump up with a yelp. It's _cold!_

A small thing that walks sideways and has weird two fingered hands pops out of the sand.

Glorfindel and I both know what it is. OCEAN RABBIT! I mean, why else would it be burrowing?

I give chase, skidding around on the sand. Then I pounce on in.

It pinches my nose.

I yelp in shock and pain and shake my head, recoiling and batting at it with my forepaws. It clutches onto my paw, and I step on it and run into a wave, rolling and choking on sand and water, then running out of it, Sand-rabbit no longer on me.

I start shaking myself while Glorfindel keeps digging, completely oblivious to what just happened. I walk up and nip him on the ruff, then dart over to the non-sandy freshwater stream and jump in. He dives in after me. We swim around for a few minutes, and I realize that I didn't look for a way out first.

Glorfindel splashes water at me with his tail. I bite the surface and exhale through my mouth at the same time.

At that precise moment, two half nude hobbit boys decide to jump into the little calm area without looking. When they surface, we lock eyes for a moment. I swim towards them slowly. They think I'm a dog, I think. One of them pets my nose.

I sneeze in his face.

He recoils and dives underwater. Glorfindel ducks his head underwater and then brings it back up, shaking it to get his ears standing up straight again. I swim over to a pebbly shore and shake myself off. They then realize that I am not a lost dog.

Glorfindel follows, also shaking the water off, and we pad into the woods, almost oblivious to the hobbit boys who look totally freaked out.

I am still sandy. There is sand in my fur. It's irritating. I pause to scratch.

Glorfindel sneezes.

I send him an image of wargs made out of sand.

His ears flop to the sides of his head again. He shakes more water off of himself and perks them up again.

We walk into the woods, and then we hear screaming.

There's a hobbit girl being dragged off by a Barrow-Wright.

I've never seen one before, so the big fuzzy hand with teensy feet dragging a girl into a barrow is a very odd sight to behold.

I run up and bite the creature in the rear.

It screeches with a mouth in the palm of the hand and scuttles away.

The girl runs away, back in the direction of the shire.

I think I see a strange, tall man in the forest in a very odd, scarecrow-ish outfit, dancing away.

Glorfindel sees it, too. So we follow it curiously. We keep following the odd creature until it reaches a cabin, where a lady in an overzealous yellow dress rushes out to greet him. What a cliché. This lady is all puffy yellow hair, a yellow dress, and looks like a princess, and the guy has a cheery face, is very spindly, dresses like a scarecrow, and is the image of 'poor farm boy without a farm'. Braden has it in so many of his cheesy and horrible books.

Glorfindel rolls his eyes at the sight.

I don't think I've got anything to worry about with these people. I walk into the clearing, past them, and grap the pie on the windowsill, then walk away.

They just smile, as if it was left out here for me in the first place.

Do I feel bad about this? No. I haven't had a pie in two years.

Glorfindel gives me a look. I grunt and start eating it. It's a meat pie.

He tries to grab some of it, but I growl protectively and scoot away with it.

He goes and grabs the other pie and walks over to a sunlight spot, sits down, and wolfs it down. What an odd sight we must be, two wolves eating pastries like pigs.

The moment I detect something wrong, I'm already falling asleep.

GLORFINDEL POV

When I wake up, I'm in a pumpkin field, tied to a metal post with a thin rope. I have a collar-like thing on my neck.

I grown in fury and leap backwards, digging at the ground, soil parting beneath my paws as I try to get away.

Artemis wakes up nearby, snarls, pounces on the rope, places two paws on top of it, bites it, and pulls up, trying to snap it. Instead, the rope stretches, snaps out of her mouth and hits the ground with a thunk.

We stare at it for a moment in confusion. A stretchy rope? What kind of witchcraft is this?

I try to pull off the collar, and it possesses the same odd property as the rope.

Artemis starts to dig up the post. I follow her lead, but the sun is setting by the time we realize that it's really far down in the ground.

We dig a bit more, and mine comes lose. I walk about, dragging the post behind me, and help Artemis with hers.

As soon as we've dug up the posts, we start to drag them through the pumpkin field. It's annoying. They keep catching on the pumpkins or the roots of the pumpkins. Why is there a pumpkin field here at all?

The stretchy rope on my neck gets caught on a root and stays there.

I can't dig the root up, after trying for a while, so I lay down and flatten myself to the ground in hopes that another nocturnal predator won't find me.

Artemis lingers for a bit, unsure of what to do, then lays down a few feet from me.

She camouflages in this environment. She's brown and grey. I am silver, so I stand out. The natural solution, roll in the dirt.

My old elven mind tells me that that is a horrid idea, that I'll get filthy, but that's the point.

We wait there until morning, when scarecrow man walks out looking for us.

When we're not where he left us, he becomes concerned. He has someone with him.

They search until they find Artemis's deserted pole. Then they find mine, and then me attached to it. I have no idea where Artemis went.

"BLAHUEYAHWONDOWNWOHDBEDY."

That's all I hear as the other figure talks. (He says, "I thought you said there were two.")

Scarecrow man says something else(There were.(If you haven't guessed yet, Scarecrow man is Tom Bombadil))

The figure looks vaguely familiar, a guy in a pointed hat and grey cloak. A name nags at the back of my mind. Gandalf. I think I know this guy.

"…" Scarecrow guy says.

"….." Hat guy replies.

I growl at Hat guy as he approaches.

"Be still, I wish only to help you."

That gets my attention. That was not Sindarin and I understood it. I trust him now.

He takes the collar off of my neck, and my muscles scream at me to run, but I'm curious, so I don't.

"So, this is what has become of the elf lord Glorfindel."

He knows my name. I relax a bit, but I'm no elf lord. I'm a wolf in a pack of exactly two.

"…"

"….."

Then Hat guy returns his attention to me. "I need you to tell me where Artemis is."

Artemis stands up, right next to us, and shakes off a thin layer of dirt, yawning. We all jump. She'd been sleeping right here the whole time?

"Ah, Artemis."

She gives a yawning, barking, howling sound and claws at the rope again.

Gandalf takes it off. If it had chaffed my neck, her fur wasn't as thick. It had done her worse.

Gandalf scolds scarecrow man, who throws his hands up.

"I need you two to follow me."

Curious, we did. We left the patch of pumpkins and went back to the woods. We were led into separate rooms in the cabin, and Gandalf did a spell that made me feel weird and tingly.

Then he left, and I realized that I'm trapped in this room. I start howling at the door.

A few minutes later, Human Artemis opened it, more than a bit surprised by her humanity, and a bit mad at her dress.

My ears perk up, and I trot out and look her up and down. Yup, no tail. They turned her back. How? Don't ask me. I'm just the clueless wolf.

ARTEMIS POV

"So you're Gandalf the grey, as in the istari?"

I'm sitting on a large, puffy chair in the house of Tom Bombadil with a silver wolf laying his head on my lap, talking to Tom and his wife, Lady Goldberry, and Gandalf the grey.

"What I can't understand is why it didn't turn him back." Gandalf contemplated.

"He's a new wolf." I explain. "First years turn in the summer, and then on and off in the winter for one year."

"That would explain it." Gandalf said.

"So how'd you know we were here?"

"You weren't exactly hiding. When Tom Bombadil saw you attack a Barrow-Wright he sent a message to me with a pigeon and left you food with sleeping drugs in it."

"So Gandalf the grey had us drugged." I say. "That's a pleasant thought."

"You must return to Imladris."

"Yeah, why?"

"Because you need to represent your kind in a meeting of the races. Your kind can no longer remain secret, for dark times are upon us."

"This have anything to do with the rise of the pureblood?" I ask him.

"It does."

"Then I'm in."

He smiles. Glorfindel gives me a look that clearly says he can't understand a word I'm saying.

We're going back to Rivendel. He'll figure it out.


	14. Depression, The Past, and Twins

Chapter 14

GLORFINDEL POV

I had no idea that we were headed back to Imladris. Sure I'm happy about it, but a bit nervous, too. What if they shoot me? They would do that, wolves and wargs have been known to work together sometimes to serve the orcs. But I know that I have to go back. Maybe this isn't exactly what the Maia had in mind for me when they brought me back, but it's what happened. Now I just have to live with it.

I wish this hadn't happened. It's a sudden feeling that comes crashing down on me as I watch my horse, the one that used to be completely loyal to me, paw at the ground in midstride angrily whenever I look at him. Gandalf the Grey, my old friend, obviously thinks that I am a wild creature. Tom Bombadil, a kind, caring soul, tied me in a pumpkin patch because he was afraid of me and didn't want me near him while Gandalf came. The Hobbit boys, who would have looked up at an elf in awe, were terrified of me now, a filthy mutt.

It is a good thing that fall approaches and I will no longer have to remain in this disgusting form.

As if she can read my mind, Artemis grants me a pitying look that obviously said that everyone went through this. But it was obvious that she had never experienced this herself. She'd been bitten by the pureblood in her cradle. She knows no other life, unlike everyone else, who had lives, friends, and a whole world that they can no longer return to.

I'm starting to wish that the Valar had left me alone in my grave beside that Balrog.

ARTEMIS POV

I hate having to watch them go through this. It's a yearly phase. They turn, they get depressed, and sometimes they try to kill themselves, and she and the other sane wolves would have to stop them. This is usually why so many wolves die so soon into their lives after being bitten.

Others die for the reason any wolf would. Disease, untreated injury, starvation, dehydration, or we're hunted and killed. Sometimes we provoke it, but most of the time we never suspect it when a hunter tries to kill us. It's why we came to the woods of Imladris. It's the only safe haven in a world danger. Even a Hobbit, if so provoked, would kill a wolf. When we're hunting and a nice tasty farm animal just happens to be nearby, a wolf doesn't avoid a perfectly good piece of food just because a farmer has laid claim to it.

I know Glorfindel doesn't belong in this form. Neither do so many others. I say this because I know he is going to die. As soon as he regained his mind he started acting melancholy, doglike. Now he's walking with outright self hatred. Bitter wolves don't survive long. I know because I had to watch the last one die.

FLASHBACK

"Why do we have to live this way?" It was a man, almost in tears despite his manly pride. "I miss my wife and child yet I cannot be near them ever again. They believe me dead."

"That was a fool move, Deinen!" Shouted Darrius. "You could have _Killed _your wife and child! You _would _have if I hadn't stepped in!"

I curled into Madison Ellis's Lap and stuck my thumb into my mouth. I had to have been four or five.

"I had to see them!" He cried. "I am an easterling! If I do not travel past the winter months I never will!"

He stormed from the room furiously.

Darrius ran after him, and so did Maddison. I toddled out after them, away from the warmth of the home and into the freezing cold air outside. I shifted and followed their scent. I eventually caught up to them.

Deinen leapt at an elf who had shot at him as he crossed the road. The elf fired an arrow into Dienen's head. Darrius and Maddison howled in grief. I'd run out into the open and licked his body, nudged it, and then looked up at the elf with big, sad eyes, asking him why Deinen wouldn't wake up.

Now I know that elf was Glorfindel. He doesn't know the small wolf-child was me. I'd like to keep it that way.

END FLASHBACK

I won't let him end up like Dienen, or Maddison after him, dead from an elven hunter's bow soon after the incident. Both times I had been the interval that ceased further hunting. They wouldn't kill a pup. They'd felt bad for me.

Now an elf, who has lived centuries in this Middle Earth, has to deal with being another species, and having everything familiar turn away from him. At least he'll enjoy his stay at Imladris, if he makes it that far.

Soon we reach the hidden valley and enter, and some of the elves stare. Elladan and Elrohir are the exception. They come bursting from the doors with big smiles on their faces. Glorfindel's gloomy demeanor changed.

Elrond followed the twins at a slower pace.

"Okay, a tip about talking to winter wolves, we automatically understand anything spoken in any elven language to a certain degree. Westron goes over our heads in wolf form." I inform them.

They start talking to Glorfindel in Sindarin, and the elf seems to understand most of what they are saying. I stop myself from saying that he bites. He does bite. He bit Legolas, but he's not used to being a wolf. I'll hold off on the teasing until he turns into an elf again in a few days or weeks as the temperature begins to cool.

I see that inside the city also is Gale. Some of the other wolves are also there, and I pick out Elanor and Gabe in the crowd as well, smiling.

"What is your name?" Asked Elrohir, speaking directly to me.

"I'm Artemis." She replied.

"No last name?"

"Only the one the pack gave me. Wolfblood."

"What an odd last name." Elladan said.

Gandalf was speaking to Elrond, the crowd was dispersing.

"How come you didn't ride a horse in?" Asked Elrohir.

"Did you not see the look the horse was giving me?" She asked him. "Wolves and horses don't exactly get along."

"You do smell like wet dog." Elladan commented.

ELLADAN POV

I saw something turn on in her just about then. She grinned and said, "If we're speaking about smell, a wolf's sense of smell is much better than yours. You wanna know how much you prissy elves reek?"

We stared at her in mock offense. "Me? Smell terrible?" Asked Elrohir. "Whatever do you mean?"

"And what's this about being prissy?" I ask, acting like I'm mad at her.

Glorfindel may not be able to understand us, but he knows what's going on. He gives a wolf-grin and sits back to watch the exchange.

"You cover yourselves in fake scents that reek to high heaven to everything with a nose." She said.

Just then, Braden runs up, the four hobbits of the shire close behind.

"Hey, Arty! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Arty?" I ask incredulously.

"I told you to never call me that." Artemis growled at him.

He started laughing.

She gave a fake laugh and then shoved him away with her foot. He slid across the ground and then stumbled, flailing his arms and then fell off the balcony and into the pond. Acting like nothing had happened, Artemis continued the conversation. "So, we were on the topic of how prissy you elves are."

Elrohir and I exchange looks. "Get her!"


	15. A Day of Relaxation Not To Be

**Snow day for me! It's the second day of Idaho Snow and I got a Snow day! So, I am getting the chance to finally update. Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter 15

I don't think I've ever had this much fun in my life.

The new wolves changed back and are in Imladris, and all the winter wolves are now about to enter the second change. Me, Elladan, Elrohir, Glorfindel, Estel, Braden, Hadaran, Damien, Rachel, The Hobbits, and Legolas are in a huge Prank war that has everyone hiding. There are two teams.

Team one consists of Me, Glorfindel, Estel, Rachel, Merry, Pippin, and Legolas. Team two has everyone else on it. Elanor took Gabriel to the cabin so we don't teach him any bad habits. I think Frodo enjoys the prank war more than he lets on. We're not committing any property damage or pranking anyone outside the teams, so we're not in any danger of being kicked out of Imladris.

So far, things are going good for us. The elves are letting us stay here when we're in our two-legged forms and in the woods of Imladris when we have four legs.

As I stand by the fountain as bait, I tune my ears to listen to the smallest of sounds. I can hear where everyone is waiting to attack anyone who goes after me. A raindrop hits my nose. A cold breeze blows across the area. I can feel the wolf stirring, but it will take more than this to wake it.

Elrond walks out beside me and says, "I wish to speak with you in private."

I follow him out of the clearing, and he looks over and says, "Legolas, Glorfindel, Frodo, you as well."

We leave, exchanging glances.

How is this a private conversation? There are five people or more involved! "Estel, You also."

Correction, there are _six _people in this private conversation.

Elrond needs to look up the definition or private.

We enter his office and he closes the door and says, "There will be a council tomorrow at noon. The visitors arriving will all be attending, and I would like you to attend as well. This is a very important matter."

"As long as I don't shift, I'll be there." I say.

Glorfindel, Legolas, and Estel also agreed.

"Frodo?"

"Of course. The council is about what _I _brought to Imladris." Frodo said.

"Tell no one about this." Elrond instructs us. "We will be in the hidden courtyard behind the kitchens."

We all nodded, and he let us leave Frodo bolted. We started to follow him…

Just to have a bucket of pink paint poured all over us.

We all yelled in shock, and turned simultaneously to see Elladan, Elrohir, and Braden running away, laughing.

"GET THEM!" Glorfindel shouts. We all leap to do so.

We chased them all the way to the gates of Imladris before they split up. I charged after Elladan with Estel. Elrohir was chased by Glorfindel. Legolas chased Braden.

Then I collided head-on with the steward of Gondor as I rounded the corner. Boromir yelled in shock as we skidded across the ground. I sprang right back up, eyes huge.

"Oh Holy Valar, I am _so _sorry!"

Instead of being angry, the man laughed. "No need to apologize. I do admit to have needed some sense knocked back into me. When I saw the elf sprinting around the corner, I should have expected he was being pursued."

"In that case, watch where you're going, will ya?"

He chuckled, stood, and said, "My name is Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor."

"I'm Artemis Wolfblood."

"What an odd last name."

"That's what the elf I was chasing said."

"I expect that there are similar chase scenes occurring at the moment?"

"There are three groups. You obviously know about mine, there's two more. One is a Red-headed Hobbit, and another is the twin of the elf I'm chasing. They went North and west."

"Thank you for the information." Boromir said. He turned and walked away. I'm seriously glad he didn't see Estel.

I climbed a roof and began to look for my prey. I tuned my hearing, and inhaled deeply.

I found him. He was by the kitchens.

I sprinted towards his destination and found him running, panting, a bit out of breath, from Estel, who was running out of breath.

I charged past my companion and tackled Elladan. He let out a yelp and I pinned him in the grass.

"I yield! I yield!"

I let him up with a smug grin.

"Elladan Elrondion, you have officially lost the prank war."

"NOOOOOOO!"

We turned and spotted Hadaran on the balcony above us. Estel and I grinned.

"Actually, I got you. So you're technically out, and I'm in, since I struck first."

"Ah, Crap." Estel swore. Elladan got up with a smug smile and walked away. We rejoined Legolas, and Glorfindel, all with grim expressions on our faces.

"We lost." I say. "Now I we have to get this pink dye off of us or we'll look like idiots." I know I don't need to say what for.

We go our separate ways and I wash the dye out of my hair after trashing three containers of dye in the soaps. Then, in a clean but rather peasant-ish outfit, I exit the room.

There's a crash, and then an explosion of water, and a shocked yell from the twins, Braden, and Hadaran.

I spot Merry, Pippin, and Rachel in the bushes grinning.

"I don't even want to know." I say to myself, turning and walking away.

"Wise decision."

I turn to see Boromir also watching the scene.

"Hello, Boromir of Gondor." I say.

"Weren't you a part of that?"

"I lost." I inform him. "Pink dye."

"Ah." He replied. "That's what was all over you when we collided."

"I didn't get any on you, did I?" I ask him.

"No. Do not worry."

"Good." I reply. "I'm leaving."

I turn and walk away. I see Boromir returning down the corridor he came from. He's a nice guy.

I walk down into the kitchens, judging by the position of the moon that it is about eight PM. My stomach roars at me. _I need FOOD!_

As I enter the kitchens, I spot elves eating and talking quietly to each other, and a bunch of dwarves, rowdy and loud. Glorfindel is with his friends, some members of the pack are chattering, and some men are talking about their journeys here, and spreading news.

I grab as much food as I dare and walk over to my pack. Darruis smiles at me. "Ah, Artemis. It is good to see you."

"You too, Darrius. Did I miss anything important on my little vacation?"

"No." Saine answered for him. "Except that we got a bunch of new wolves, Legolas, Estel, and Lindir, not mentioning Glorfindel and Evan. This usually means somebody's goanna die soon."

"It's inevitable. Waddya think will cause it? Choking up lifeblood or other reasons?"

"I think that somebody's goanna shift in Imladris and one of these guests are goanna kill us since they think wolves are evil. Do you see the looks some of those dwarves are giving us?" Asked Sabine.

"Yeah. I blame Golen and his drinking problem." I reply.

Sabine chuckled. "You're funny, not. I blame Tolin's creepy face."

"I blame the prank war." Tolin pipes up. "You instigated it."

"So?" I ask, "I lost. That's got to make up for it."

Tolin laughs. I make a face. "Tolin, I agree with Sabine. You're just dang creepy."

His laugh died and he glared at me.

I chuckle and say, "You were laughing like this: MUAHAHAHAHA! That qualifies as creepy."

He throws his dinner at me. I catch a bred roll and throw it back at him. And so the great food-fight of the Imladris kitchens begins.


	16. The Fellowship of the Ring

Chapter 16

I enter the council room and take my seat beside Darrius. The pack leader is to my right side. To my left side is an elf I have never met before, I believe he is from Lothlorien.

Elrond starts the council meeting.

"Strangers from different lands, friends of old."

This is going to be super boring.

"You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor."

Okay, maybe it might be a bit interesting. I'm all ears.

"Middle Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. Unite or you will fall."

Legolas and Estel exchange a glance. Boromir's gaze flickers to me for a moment, as if wondering what I'm doing here.

"Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom." He turns to Frodo, who shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"Bring forth the ring, Frodo." Elrond gestures to the pedestal. As soon as he stands, I can sense he's nervous. He walks forwards and places a small gold ring on the table. As soon as he removes his hands, every wolf in the area jolts in shock in response to the evil emitted from that ring. I narrow my eyes.

"That ring is evil." Darrius comments. "Is it truly the one?"

"It is." Elrond confirms.

"So it is true." Boromir comments. Aragorn looks at him, as if expecting him to do something stupid. Boromir is contemplating, and even though I cannot detect any lust from him, I still shift and stifle a growl. This thing is tearing away at my sense, telling me to come take it, put it on. I will never do it.

Frodo sits down.

Legolas gives it an odd look, and I realize since he's a newly turned he can't sense the darkness. I send him an image of the picture of Sauron in the hallway, and his gaze turns from the ring. He gives me a bit of a grateful look, and before anyone but I can notice, he turns away.

I hate that ring. I despise it.

I want it.

Whispers shoot across the area. I stifle my urge with a rattling growl that belongs to my wolf. It shakes the elf beside me out of his daze. He gives me an odd look, as do all of the people nearby except for the wolves.

"I have also called you here to reveal a race that has remained hidden from us all until a few months ago. Darrius?"

One of the men of Rohan's eyes widened. "Darrius? You cannot be Darrius Borranson!"

"I am." He replied.

"But you died! You…"

"He did not die," I inform the man, "None of us did. Otherwise we would not be here."

"We are a race that we know as Winter Wolves. During the warmer months, we take the shape we were born in. During the winter, we become wolves. I have been this way since I was proclaimed dead by the healers in Rohan."

They stirred in shock.

"A new race?" Asks One of the dwarves.

"No." I say. "We've been around for as long as any other race. We've just stayed away from society so we cannot turn anyone else into what we are now, though that is failing."

Elrond looked at us and said, "I would like all who are a winter wolf to stand."

We stood. Gasps of shock came from some, as Legolas and Aragorn rose and not just the oddities like Braden. Glorfindel was another shocker to them as well.

We took our seats.

"Recently, we have come across a new threat, however. It calls itself a pureblood. It is half man half wolf, and cannot be killed. It has sided with the shadow." Darrius says. "It is the creature that turned me, and has become more active as the days pass."

"What is this turning business about?" Asks a hotheaded dwarf, I think his name is Gimli.

"A wolf bites you, you do one of four things. One, turn, two, die, three, not get affected, or four, gain healing abilities. We're the ones who pulled the shorter sticks." I explain.

"How many have died?" Asks one of them softly.

"A whole ton, but that's not the point. We have the ring of all evil here to discuss."

Some were shocked by my bluntness, but it got us on topic again.

As if taken by the ring, Boromir stands and says, "I had a dream. The eastern sky grew dark, but in the west, there was a light. A voice was crying, "Your doom is near at hand. Isildur's bane has been found." Isildur's bane…"

He reached for the ring.

I was spring-loaded, ready to attack. "Boromir!" Elrond shouted.

Then Gandalf began to speak. The sky turned dark. Braden shifted and snarled furiously at it. I braced myself against the wind and almost shifted. Everyone stood, trying to shield themselves from the furious black wind. I snarled again, gaining wolfish features.

As he stopped the sky cleared. I returned to normal and we took our seats, except for Braden, who continued to growl at Gandalf.

Elrond gave the grey istari a furious look. "Never before has anyone spoken the words of that foul tounge here, and none shall ever do it again."

"I do not ask your pardon, master Elrond." Gandalf says, sounding very old. "For the black speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the west."

Anything to stop all that sickening wind and darkness.

"The ring is not to you, Boromir."

"It is a gift." Boromir says, standing again. "A gift to the foes of Mordor! Why not use this ring?"

Are you kidding? After everything he's still playing at this?

"Long has my father, the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay! By the blood of our people your lands are kept safe! Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy! Let us use it against him!"

"You cannot wield it! None of us can!" Aragorn says. "The one ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master!"

"And what would a wolf-ranger know of this matter?"

I was cut off from springing up and shouting about racism when Legolas did it for me. "This is no mere ranger! He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."

My eyes got huge. That was unexpected.

Everyone stared at him for a long moment. Then Boromir spoke up. "Aragorn. This is Isildur's heir."

"And Heir to the throne of Gondor." Legolas adds, just as I was about to say something incredibly rude. Good thing Legolas is here, otherwise I'd have torn him to pieces.

"Havoddad, legolas." Now he's telling Legolas to sit down. Great. Now I don't have someone to censor my language.

"Gondor has no king. Gondor needs no king." Boromir and Legolas sat down.

I quit biting my tounge, although I'm sure it's obvious to the people around me what I'd had to say.

"Aragorn is right." Gandalf says. "We cannot use it."

Finally, the old coot has some sense.

"You have only one choice. The ring must be destroyed."

They paused for a moment.

Then the younger, brash dwarf stood. "What are we waiting for?" He grabbed his axe, and before Braden could pounce on him, he shattered it on the ring, which remained undamaged.

Frodo jumped and clutched at his head. Everyone stood except for Gandalf, who gave Frodo a concerned look.

"The ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli son of Gloin, by any craft we here possess. The ring was made in the fires of mount doom. Only there can it be unmade."

I swear the thing is whispering something in that foul language. Braden's hackles raise. I growl.

"It must be taken deep into Mordor and be cast into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this."

There was another long pause.

"One does not simply walk into Mordor." Boromir said, finally speaking sense. "Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. The great eye keeps vigil. It is a barren wasteland, riddled by fire, and ashes, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly."

That strikes a nerve.

"Everything can be done." I say. "It just takes the right person and the right planning to do it. The ring must be destroyed."

I see I have cut Legolas off this time. Ha.

"And I suppose you will be the one to do it." Gimli snarled.

"I would…" I start, but he doesn't let me finish. "I will be dead before I see the ring in the hands of a monster!"

I spring up furiously, as do all of the other wolves and dwarves.

One elf volunteers and a comment about elves is made from the same dwarf, causing them to spring up as well.

"You shut your damned pit, you filthy blunt, _idiotic _dwarf!" I snarl. I'm not offending either of my dwarf companions because they don't count as dwarves.

"How can you be trusted with the ring if a wolves serve mordor?"

"WARGS serve Mordor! They are the main reason my kind die! I have lost so much to the shadow and you _dare _accuse me of working with it!" I roar.

"Even if she could take the ring, she would never betray us to Sauron." Legolas snaps.

"And what do you have to say on the matter, Elfling? You're just as bad as she is, if not worse!"

Suddenly a small voice cuts through our arguing. "I will take it!" We broke off. It's Frodo. "I will take the ring to Mordor."

No one could argue. He was already a ringbearer. He's already proven he can stand up to its power. He is the logical choice.

"Though I do not know the way."

Gandalf steps forwards. "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins. As long as it is yours to bear." He places a hand on his shoulder and moves behind him.

Then I notice that there are three Hobbits hiding in the bushes and by the pillars, obviously Frodo's companions. I suppress a smile.

Aragorn stands. "If by my life or death I can protect you, I will." He kneels before the Hobbit. "You have my sword."

"And you have my bow." Legolas said.

"And my axe." Gimli adds.

"I've got a perfectly good set of knives. They're yours as well." I say, moving behind him. What was I supposed to do? Two newly turned wolves are bound to run off in the first snow, and since it's pretty damned obvious Darrius isn't going, somebody has to lead the pack.

Boromir walks forwards. "You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the council, then Gondor will see it done."

Then the bushes rustle and Samwise Gamgee runs out. "Hey!"

Elrond jumps. I smile.

"Mister Frodo's not goin' anywhere without me."

"No indeed, it is hardly possible to separate you two even when he is invited to a secret council and you are not."

Merry and Pippin run out, pissing Elrond out. "Wait! We're coming too!"

This time I can't suppress the chuckle.

"You'll have to send us home tied in a sack to stop us!" Merry says.

"Anyways, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission, quest, thing."

We all stare at him.

"Well that rules you out, Pippin." Merry mutters. I totally agree.

"Ten companions." Elrond says. "So be it. You shall be the fellowship of the ring."

"Great!" Pippin says. Then he glances around. "Where are we going?"

We're doomed.


	17. The Journey Begins

Chapter 17

I'm packing a satchel of everything I'll need. Cloak, check. Clothing, check, food, check, water, also check. Looks like I'm covered.

I then remember my knives.

I get into my outfit for setting off, and smile. Other than Swift, who's acting as a packhorse, we won't be around any. Due to a horse's natural hatred of wolves, we're taking the horse of Rohan.

I grab some of the arm bands that delay a wolf's change, twelve, to be specific, (Who knows when we're going to need them) and put one on, placing all but two in my pack. I head out and give one to Legolas and one to Aragorn, who fit theirs on beneath their armor.

Then we set out.

It's painfully slow going at first, but we pick up pace.

We walk, and I feel like running. I keep myself in check, though, and volunteer to take the first watch later that night when we set up camp. That ring is keeping me on edge.

Gimli stays as far away from Legolas and me as he can get. He's fine around Aragorn, probably because Aragorn's a man, not a woman or an elf.

Boromir is less okay with Aragorn and Legolas, but he'll talk to me with ease, probably because we met before he knew about me. The Hobbits actually think this my condition is intriguing and always pepper me and the other two with questions.

"Why did you really decide to come?" Asked Boromir as we walked.

The others were a ways behind us, in camp as we scouted the area.

"Aragorn and Legolas were just turned this year. Newly turned wolves can be dangerous and uncontrolled. They'd run off as soon as they turned, and we'd be lucky to make it out with only three wolves and eight companions."

"You speak from experience?"

"I cannot remember a time I was not a wolf." I admit. "They turned me in the cradle. I have maybe a year or two before I die."

"What do you mean?" He asks sharply.

"Lycanthropy." I say. "It's a disease fought off by the shifting from wolf to human. Wolves can transmit this, but anyone bitten by any wolf, winter or not, is in danger of dying from it. Somewhere along the line, the lycanthropy will kill us, and Darrius, the pack leader, is the longest lives wolf in recorded history."

"How does it kill you?"

"Either you go mad and get yourself killed, like a few packmates, names Calypso and Deinen, or you puke up all the blood in your body, again."

"What do you mean, again?"

"One fourth of the people infected die." I say. "That's what we told you. The thing is, if you turn, you have to die. Your body is rejuvenated by something; we don't know what it is yet. You wake up, and you turn into a wolf. That's how it works."

"You don't know much about your own race, do you?"

"I do not. No one has ever lived long enough to decode the mystery of it, and Darrius has made all of the major discoveries."

"Tell me, how will your presence help them?"

"I am Darrius's third in command. I hold a sort of power over any wolf in my pack, and if the first and second command aren't around, they'll listen to me in wolf form."

"How do you speak?"

"We can send each other images in our mind." I reply. "We should head back."

As we return, I notice that something is wrong in the air.

Nobody else seems to notice. I inhale deeply. There it is again. My eyes narrow.

"What is it?"

"Something is watching us." I growl. "It is very stupid, upwind."

Then I spot it. "Creban!" I hiss.

Legolas shoots it. Everyone knows Creban are allied with the shadow.

"I'll feel safe with you on watch." Pippin remarked.

"May I borrow your bow and arrows?" I ask Legolas as they settle in to sleep. He nods and hands them to me.

It will never cease to be creepy that elves sleep with their eyes open.

Nothing disturbs anything until my watch is over. I place Legolas's bow and quiver by his sleeping form and wake Aragorn, and then curl up in a ball and rest.

I jolt awake. Something, some noise, woke me up. Then my eyes narrow. It isn't a noise that woke me, rather the lack of it.

Aragorn is scowling also, obviously wondering what is happening.

I wake the others. We gather our weapons and supplies, and then we, along with Swift, begin to move on. This is unnatural and we need to get out of here, now.

The air shivers. I stop, listening.

_THUD_

We stop, I grab one of my throwing knives.

_THUD_

Screw this. I grab another knife, examining the overcast sky.

_THUD_

Definitely wings. Legolas has his bow out, so does Aragorn. We've made a circle around the Hobbits.

_THUD! THUD! THUD!_

A deep, dark fog falls in.

We close the circle in. Swift grunts and presses himself against the outer wall, protecting Legolas and Boromir.

_THUD! THUD!_

A shriek pierces the air. Talons fasten themselves around my shoulders. I give a startled cry as I am lifted higher and higher into the wall of fog, kicking and screaming and fighting, knives on the forest floor.

We breach the top of the clouds. I'm being held by a Fellbeast.

On its back is a dreaded Nazgul.

It's freezing up here. I shift forms, dangling helplessly in the beast's claws. I howl, signaling my location. I hear a howl beneath me and recognize Legolas's voice. It must be cold down there, too.

Then I notice that there are a bunch of beasts, about nine, to be exact.

I'm held by one, another holds Boromir. Another holds Legolas, and the same went for everyone except for Frodo and Swift,

In the fellbeast's claws were a cloak and a pack. The Hobbit slipped free.

My train of thought dies as I look down.

I am going to die. I howl and start thrashing about, eliciting howls from Aragorn and Legolas as well. Wolves were not meant to fly. If we were, we'd have wings. We are _land _animals, not birds!

I bite the fellbeast's leg.

It lets go.

And then I wake up.

It's dawn. I'm back at camp.

I hide my moment of fright and stand, cool and collective, and we move on. There are no Nazgul, and no Fellbeasts. I wonder what brought on that very odd nightmare.

We begin our journey again, and I keep my vision sharp. Who knows what could find us along the road.

My ears, however, I tune into conversations. Gimli doesn't like me or Legolas at all, we return the feeling, He's fine with Aragorn, the feeling is shared by everyone but Boromir, who is only friendly to me and the Hobbits, but is warming up to everyone else.

I need a way to break the ice. Otherwise this is going to be a long trip.

Gandalf is loved by everybody. Maybe he has a solution.

A cool breeze glides around us, blowing my hair up around my shoulders and making the wolf inside me stir again. I know I will shift first, and they will follow some days after me. We continue walking throughout the day, and I still want to run. Wolves like me are active creatures, and wolves with my training are even more so.

I inhale deeply, savoring the scents around me. A herd of deer recently crossed this terrain. The grass smells sweet, and the scents of fall mix with the cool air. I smell a rabbit, many, actually, I smell a boar, long passed through this land. I smell horses, my company, Swift, and the scent of birds carried on the wind.

"Refreshing breeze?" Asks Sam.

"It is not the breeze." I reply. "It is the scents carried by it. Not long ago, a herd of deer ran through here. I before them, normal wolves chased a wild boar from their territory."

"What does it smell like?"

"Like a boar, wet dog, and deer." I reply with a grin. Smell is more intricate if you have a good enough sense of smell to tell it apart, but that sums it up."

"I have another question."

"Shoot."

"Um, okay, what does your wolf form look like?"

"I have no idea." I reply.

"How can you not know what you look like?"

"We don't have mirrors, and looking at your reflection in a river is just _asking _to get pushed in." I say.

"Pushed in?"

"I have a rowdy pack." I reply with a grin.

"I get that. You instigated a prank war, and by prank war I do mean prank _war._ I was in it, remember?"

"Never said I forgot." I sais with a grin. "Watch your step."

He looked down just in time to hop over a rock.

"Thanks." He paused and asked, "I saw that hobbit back in the meeting shift."

"His name is Braden, you were on the same side of the prank war. He shifted because of the darkness. It was adrenaline. I almost shifted."

"I saw." Sam said. "In all honesty it was very frightening."

"Huh. I never thought about it that way."

"How old were you when you turned?"

"Newborn. The pureblood got me when I was still in the cradle. Not long after, Darrius found me and took me in. Nobody knows what happened to my parents, but I'm pretty sure the pureblood ate them."

"_Ate _them?"

"The pureblood is a true monster. When he's around, never trust a wolf. He can control us, but he cannot shift. He's stuck in that place in between. He's really thin, ten feet tall, and has claws like swords. As far as we know, he's truly immortal, unable to be killed. DO not worry, he can only attack in the summer months, meaning we are safe. From him, for now. I feel that the destruction of this ring will bring my kind one step closer to being rid of him."

"Ah." Sam says. "How do you know all of this?"

"For a short time, he controlled Glorfindel, my pack mate, Sabine, and I. she got away from him because he was too busy chasing Glorfindel and I, who almost killed ourselves to get lose."

"Gandalf says he found you with Tom Bombadil."

"We were actually in the Barrow-downs when Tom Bombadil got to us. I bit a barrow-wight. You saw us fleeing, remember?"

"That was _you?_"

"And Glorfnidel." I reply.

"Wait, what happens to the Barrow-Wight?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. Nobody's ever bitten a Wight before. Just like Glorfindel was the first elf to ever get bitten."

"What about Damien, Rachel, and Gale?"

"When you get bitten, every injury you have ever possessed heals, no matter how ancient." I say. "All orcs were elves once."

"They were orcs?"

"Yes. Their minds, bodies, and long lives were restored after they changed." I inform him. "Gale is good enough to be the second in command for my pack, so that means they're okay."

He nods and says, "Why didn't you bite elves before this?"

"If biting an orc turns it into and elf, what do you think biting an elf would do?" I ask. "We thought that it might do something horrid to them, so we refrained from biting them. There are only three elves who were bitten, Glorfindel, Lindir, and Legolas, who survived. The others all bled out."

"Can't you have stopped the bleeding?"

"I wasn't there." I replied, "And not when they're puking it."

"That's gross."

"Yes it is." I reply. "I've seen about twelve people do that now."

He shuddered.

"Don't worry, it won't happen to you. No one is biting you on my watch."

He nods and continues. "On a brighter subject, where did you live before this?"

"We lived in a cabin outside in the woods of Imladris." I reply.

"Really?"

"Really."

"What was it like?"

"Well, it was great." I say. "Braden would write terrible books, we'd enjoy ourselves, go on supply runs to just about everywhere we could go, they'd go see their imprints, and we'd try to get the horses to not hate us…" I trailed off with a smile. "I even named one of them 'Bucky' because nobody could stay on him."

San grinned. "I'd like to see this place."

"Sure." I reply, "As soon as this quest is over, you're welcome to visit."

We walked beside each other in silence for a while. Then the wolf inside me woke. I hissed and dropped to the floor, stomach lurching. Then the wolf returned to its slumber.

"Are you alright?" Aragorn asked.

"Yeah." I reply. "It's nothing, really, just the wolf."

They nodded and we continued walking. Nevertheless, I felt the wolf restless in its slumber. Winter is near. The cool winter air told me so.


	18. Caradhras

Chapter 18

The weather continuously grew colder. Aragorn was the next to have the wolf begin its waking. Thanks to our armbands, we haven't shifted yet, but my hair has turned light brown instead of the dark almost black color it was before. My eyes stay the same, they always do. My node looks a bit different, and my teeth have changed. Aragorn has no physical evidence of the approaching change.

Boromir is acting skittish around me, as are Gimli and Gandalf, though Gandalf did it unconsciously. The Hobbits and the other wolves didn't care at all.

I felt a prickling sensation as I woke, and know that my ears belong to a wolf and are furry. I raise a hand to my face and notice brown fur and claws instead of fingernails and bare skin.

We rise, and continue on the path. Soon, though, after scaling a mountain(made easy by my claws) we rested on its top.

Boromir was giving Merry and Pippin fencing lessons. Aragorn and I watch.

As Pippin loses, Aragorn shouts, "Move your feet!"

The swords clang and suddenly Boromir misses his target. He cuts Merry's palm.

"Oww!"

"Are you a…"

The two Hobbits tackle Boromir to the ground, abandoning their swords. Boromir is laughing his head off. Aragorn and I join in, until Aragorn walks over. "That's e-ugh!" He finds himself laying flat on his back, looking at the clouds. This just serves to make me laugh harder. I feel the tension between us melting away. This is a great way to break the ice.

"What's that?" Pippin asks, pointing towards something behind me. "Just a wisp of cloud." Gimli says.

"It moves fast." Boromir says, "And against the wind."

Legolas and I turn to look at the exact same time.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas calls.

"Spies of Saruman." Gandalf calls, "Hide!"

The hobbits douse the flames. I'm glad we sent swift home, as it would have been impossible to hide him. We dive for cover, and I bare my teeth as they fly over, barely resisting the urge to kill them.

They fly away, no doubt in my mind that they've seen us.

We leave our hiding places.

"The passage south is being watched." Gandalf says. "We must take the pass of Caradhras."

We look up to the snowy mountain.

"Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and I _will _shift if we go up there." I call.

"I know." Gandalf replies. "Let us make this journey short."

We continue on, up the mountains. As soon as we hit the snow, Aragorn and Legolas gain wolf-like features, and I shift completely. I take a moment to gain my bearings, and then we continue on.

I pad lightly atop the snow, like Legolas is. The others glare at us jealously.

They say things I can't understand, and Sam says something to me. I cock my head, showing him I can't understand a word he says.

Gandalf relays the message. "He means to say that you are a brown wolf with grey sides. And white freckles, and that you are quite small."

I bob my head, showing that I understand, and then I realize that I'm starting to fall behind. I spring forwards and run a few paces before walking with the others. At least there are no rabbits up here. I'd hate to have to chase one of the little bastards and then leave the fellowship behind.

Aragorn gives a cry, and all of his bones break, in a painful transformation instead of a smooth one like mine. He stands there for a moment, panting. I send him an image of him following me with power locked in it, so he does as I say instead of running, tail wagging, off a cliff.

He continues to follow me, and we continue up the mountain. Legolas shifts, and his fluffy white coat is obviously well suited for this environment. We all walk atop the snow. I make sure he follows me, and we continue up the mountain. Gimli walks behind, taking up the rear. Frodo stumbles and falls, rolling back to the dwarf, who helps him up.

He reaches towards his collar, and I notice that the ring is gone. I turn, just to see Boromir picking it up.

"Strange, to think there's such a fuss about such a little thing…"

All three of us wolves start growling.

"Boromir, return the ring to Frodo." Gimli says.

"Of course." He says, snapping out of it. My hackles lower as he hands Frodo the ring, and Frodo puts it around his neck.

We continue up the mountain, and soon the man, dwarf, wizard, and Hobbits are digging to get through the snow, which was up to their heads.

I ran up ahead and started digging, signaling for the other two to do the same. It helped a bit, but not as much as was necessary.

Suddenly, a voice sounded.

Boromir shouts something, and then the avalanche started. I yelped and leapt back against the wall. No digging needed, all the snow just got knocked off the path. Gandalf shouted in a powerful language that I do not understand. I howl with the wind.

Then lightning struck the top of the mountain and snow fell in another avalanche. It fell over my head.

I clawed my way to the surface and gulped for air, and saw the other wolves surfacing. We dug everyone else out.

Boromir shouted something, and then Gimli, and then Gandalf, and then Gimli, and Frodo said something. Then we turned around and trudged, defeated from the pass of Caradhras.

I stare in the direction of Isengard, where the voice had come from, and feel like a sheep. We're doing exactly what Saruman wants us to do, and wherever we're going is exactly where he wants us to go. I'm a predator; I'm not supposed to be hunted like prey.

But I have to stick with the fellowship, and that means turning back. I know there's only one way we can go from here, the dreaded mines of Moria.


	19. Moria

Chapter 19

We've been walking painstakingly slowly down to the wall of a mountain, and the air is warm enough here for us to shift back.

"The Walls of Moria!" Gimli announces. I exchange a look with Boromir. All I see is a mountain.

"Dwarf walls are made to look like the mountain it was built into." Gimli says, answering my question before it was asked.

We walk down the passage, and Frodo stumbles, foot hitting the swampy water before he pulls it out with a frightened look on his face. Note to self, stay out of that water.

We walked to where the door should be, and the moon shone onto it, revealing ancient elven runes.

"Ah, a riddle." Gandalf says.

"What does mean?" Asks Frodo.

"Well it says Speak Friend and Enter so if you're a friend you speak the password and you can enter."

He says something that obviously isn't the password as the door does not open. He says something else and the door doesn't budge.

I'll let Frodo have this one. It's so obvious that it isn't even a riddle.

I jump up into one of the trees and dangle upside down by my legs.

"You're helpful." Boromir says.

"Hey, I'm not the genius here. That would be, er, Gandalf."

He rolls his eyes and I hang there for a while.

Then Merry and Pippin (Idiots) Start throwing rocks at the water. I jump down, but Aragorn stops them first. "Do not disturb the water."

Frodo pipes up. "Gandalf, what's the elvish word for friend?"

Finally!

"Mellon…"

The door opens.

I can see Gandalf doing a mental face palm.

We walk into the mines, and the scent of death hits me so hard I actually let out a shocked cry. Aragorn and Legolas get it, too. There are skeletons everywhere. This isn't a mine, it's a tomb.

Boromir voices exactly what I was thinking.

Then Frodo gives a cry of shock and a tentacle yanks him from the cave entrance and into the air. Legolas shoots it, and he drops, and Sam cuts it off. I rush forwards, blades singing, as more tentacles shoot from the water. I dance through then, slicing the off left and right while Frodo, Sam, and Aragorn retreat.

Then another grabs Frodo from an angle I can't defend against. A creature surfaces, and the tentacles grope for everyone. Aragorn and Pippin are also snagged. A fire lights inside when one of my pack members is grabbed, and I throw my hidden boomerang at it. The tentacle releases Aragorn as the flying weapon arcs through the air and back to me.

I caught it, and then threw it at the tentacle holding Pippin while Legolas shot the beast's head.

Pippin shot out of the water, and Frodo followed as the creature dropped him.

"Into the mines!" Shouted Gandalf. We all were happy to do this, so we sprinted into the mines, and the gate collapsed on top of the beast.

"We have but one choice now." Gandalf said, lighting his staff. "We must press on through the mines of Moria."

We continued through the mines, and Legolas's demeanor was that of unease.

I admit to mot feeling great about this situation, but the fact that the mine was strangely warm and humid inside kept me from changing, and that was a good thing.

We strode through the maze of tunnels until Gandalf stopped. "I have no memory of this place."

We rested for a while. I inhaled and smelled fresher air down one of the tunnels, orcs down another, and something terrible down another that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I walked up to Gandalf and pointed out the safe tunnel, and then I stood by the most dangerous one, a growl rumbling in my throat.

My eyes narrowed and my teeth formed k-nines.

Aragorn and Legolas were oblivious to this smell, their senses were not as developed yet. Deep in the tunnel I could scent fire, death, darkness, blood, and flesh. Something truly evil lay that way.

"I take it we are not going that way." Boromir said.

"Never in my life have I felt such evil. I can literally smell it, like a pillar of death. Never in a million years could you make me go down there, there is something deadly beyond compare down this path."

He nodded, and Gandalf led us down the safe path. We continued this way until we spotted a light. Gimli's mouth dropped open. "No." He ran towards it, and sho0uted, "NOOOOO!"

"Here lies Balin, Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." I remember Gimli saying that this was his cousin. I lowered my head.

He let out a devastated cry.

We waited while Gimli grieved for the loss of his cousin and Gandalf read a passage.

"We cannot get out, we cannot get out." He finished. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end once more. I want out of here. This place is an unnatural haven of death.

Then the skeleton sitting by the well's head fell off and into the well. It banged, and I jumped literally five feet into the air, spinning around.

Pippin spins around, shocked, and the whole body and the chain it rested against joined the head.

I froze, breathing heavily and quickly, eyes narrow.

"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!" Gandalf snaps, taking his hat and staff from the small Hobbit.

_BOOM_

We froze.

_BOOM BOOM BOOM_

The excited cries of orcs reached us.

"Orcs!" Legolas exclaimed. The voices drew ever closer. We barricaded the doors and drew our weapons. I growled, just daring the goblins to try anything.

As Boromir retreated, he said, "They have a cave troll."

An indescribable feeling swept over me, and I stiffened. Then they began banging on the door. My adrenaline pumping, I felt my claws grow. I growled darkly, angry, which turned into a snarl as my features turned wolfish.

Arrows were fired from Aragorn and Legolas as the orcs began to push through the barricaded doors.

Then they did.

I shot forwards, killing left and right, making sure my friends didn't get in the way. I thank Darrius, Rachel, Damien, Gale, and Brian Telford for my fighting lessons. (Brian Telford is another dead pack member)

We fought long and hard, slaying every orc that came at us, until the cave troll ran in.

It slammed its club into me, and I crashed into the wall. A normal human would have died. I didn't. I sprung right back up, unharmed.

"HA! DIDN'T WORK YA BASTARD!" I yell at him. It turns, and it must be surprised I'm not dead yet. I dodge the club, knowing that if he manages to squish me, I _will_ die.

Legolas shoots it in the back, and it swings its club at him, but unlike me he dodges it. Stupid elves, they're faster than humans.

More orcs flooded in. I started killing them.

The next thing I hear if Frodo's cry, and I slay the last orc to see the troll impaling Frodo.

"FRODO!" I screeched. I was joined by many fellowship members.

Merry and Pippin jumped onto its back. I shifted and in a blind fury lunged, tearing at its throat. Legolas delivered the kill blow, and I land on my paws, breathing hard, covered in blood. That thing won't heal with an arrow in its head, and it's been proven that trolls can't turn to wolves.

We stride over to Frodo. I tilt my head back and howl.

Then he opens his eyes, and I break off, surprised. Did somebody bite him?

"It's okay, I'm alright."

Then I realize I've shifted back. I step back into my clothing, since nobody noticed. He unbuttons the top of his shirt to reveal Mithril.

I give him a hard look and say, "Never do that again."

He grins, and then we grab our weapons and run into the cave. We soon, however find ourselves surrounded by orcs.

I draw my knives and we make a circle, Gandalf's light in the middle.

Then the dark scent floods in.

It's overwhelming, and I snarl.

The orcs flee, and flames shot from the passage.

"This foe is beyond any of you." Gandalf says. "RUN!"

We do so, and by run, in my case, I mean _run_. Nobody can keep up with me. I slay the orcs in my path and wait for them to catch up, and then we take the stairs. We have yet to see our foe.

First, Gandalf crosses, then Boromir, then Merry, Pippin, Me, Sam, and then Gimli.

Then the bridge is cut off. they manage to make it after a few tedious moments, and we continue our flight. We reach the bridge, and then it catches us.

It's a Balrog.

"Ai, Valar, why did we not bring Glorfindel?" I ask in a small voice.

"How were we supposed to know a Blarog was in our path?" Asked Legolas quietly.

Gandalf suddenly went into action, a beacon of light facing off against the darkness.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" He shouts. The Balrog roars at the wizard.

"YOU SHALL NT PASS!" Gandalf shouts, lifting his sword and his staff as one and slamming them onto the ground. A white circle exploded from that point.

The Balrog, not caring, charged forwards, waving his whip. The bridge beneath it collapsed. I sighed in relief. Then as Gandalf turned to join us, a whip wrapped around the istari's ankle. It jerked him to the ledge and I sprang forwards, as he fell, grabbing his arm.

"No!" He hissed as I pulled him up. "Fly, you fools!"

And he let go.

I let out a strangled cry and almost launched myself after him. I owe him everything, and now I'll never repay that debt.

Boromir jerks me back, and we race from the ledge.

Soon we find ourselves outside.

I slump down to the ground, and I notice out of the corners of my eyes that the others are doing the same. Indecision clouds me. What do I do?


	20. Darkness

Chapter 20

We strode down the road to Lothlorien. I hung close to the rest of the fellowship, feeling insecure suddenly. I feel like they're going to die and I won't be able to save them, just like Gandalf. If would kill me to lose another friend. No, I realize that, as odd a mix as we are, they're like my pack. That's the reason I was so willing to go after Gandalf. He was in charge, and now Aragorn is. I'd readily follow my Alpha to death. It's loyalty, it's trust, it's the link that passes beyond any instinct for self preservation.

My pain for Gandalf fades slowly as we make the trek to Lothlorien. I absorb every detail around me and begin to think on another matter. Aragorn. He can't lead this group if he's a wolf. I think I have a way to stop it, but it's risky. First, I need to talk to Galadriel. Legoals told me about her, he's never been to Lothlorien, but his older brother has. Lady Galadriel is the child of one of the firstborn. She should be able to help.

As we're walking, something happens. The wolf inside me seems to scream and wither. I let out a screech along with it and fall, curling in on myself.

BOROMIR POV

It was totally unexpected. Artemis collapsed, screaming, eyes bloodshot. Now she's curling up in a ball, shaking, choking up her own blood.

LEGOLAS POV

I did this when I turned the first time. What's happening to her?

"Artemis?" I ask, voice quaking.

She choked and smiled. "W-We all get built-in time limits b-before w-we die." She said, teeth bloody.

It dawns on all of us. She's dying. She falls unconscious and the spasms stop.

"We have to get her to Lothlorien, _now! _I snap. I pick her up, and we run all the way into the forest. Every once and a while, one of her brittle bones will snap, or blood will flow freely from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. I don't know what to do.

Haldir finds us.

"Give her to me." He says, seeing the blood.

I comply, and he hands it to a rider, who speeds into the forest.

"What happened?" Haldir asks.

ARTEMIS POV

Huh. I haven't died yet, I think. Wait, yup, I'm definitely dead. There's way too much white and silver for me to be in the land of the living.

I sit up, and pain rockets through my insides and I spew more blood into the air, dropping back onto the bed. Nope, I'm still alive. Where the Hell am I?

I see the worried faces of some of the Hobbits in the doorway.

I manage to choke out some words. "H-Hey guys. Where am I? And why does this look like I've died and gone to silver fairy land heaven?"

I hear someone chuckle, and Boromir enters the room. "We made it to Lothlorien. What happened?"

"Nobody ever lives past twenty five except for Darrius. Either we die of this stupid disease, or we go mad, or we die from other reasons. It happens when our bodies start rejecting the change. Happens to everybody."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty one, as of last week." I reply, then frown, "By last week I mean when we went into Moria. How long have I been out?"

"Five days." Merry says.

"So you really are dying?" Asks Pippin quietly.

"I am." I say. "I wondered when it would happen. I hoped I'd have enough time to do this mission, since it's kind of important. In fact, I should be dead now. What'd you do?"

"The healers of Lothlorien have been keeping whatever disease you have from killing you."

"That poison is my blood." I say. "That's why my body's so eager to get rid of it. One day, we don't change when we should, and whatever it is that makes us shift kills us then. It's why so many people die from being bitten, and another reason we refrain from Biting elves. It shears a lot of time from their life spans."

"Oh." Boromir says. "How come you didn't tell anyone?"

"'Cause I really wasn't thinking about it, and I didn't want anybody mother-Henning me." I reply. I cough again. "Hey, got any water?"

Pippin dashed off to get some.

I sit up, ignoring my broken bones.

They shove me back down.

"There you go with the mother-Henning stuff." I say. "This is why I refrained from telling you my life's on a timer."

"When were you going to tell me?" asked another voice. Aragorn was there.

"Because I was working on a cure and it wasn't relevant at the time." I reply.

"A cure?" Asks Boromir.

"There's a poison in our blood. There's a cure to every poison. You just have to find it. With any luck, it'll stop the shifting too and you can get on with your human life." I say. "I was actually thinking about it when I started to die."

"Please don't keep saying you're going to die." Aragorn says. "It's too soon after Gandalf died."

"Huh, yeah, that's what did it." I choked on some blood. That is a really gross thought.

"Gandalf dying?"

"Yeah. If I'm grieving and my mental state is left open, I have a weakness and that's what killed me."

"You're not dead yet!" Snapped Sam.

"Nobody _ever _lives through this, Sam." I say. "I'm not goanna be any different from the other thousand who died over the years. I'm lucky I lived as long as I did."

"Quit referring to yourself like you've already died!" Snapped Boromir. I blinked. They're way more upset than I thought they'd be.

"You're not going to die. You're too strong for that."

"I said that too, once. I said it to my surrogate father, Brian Telford, when he was on his death bed." I say, closing my eyes and remembering what he'd told me. "He told me then what I'm about to tell you. It's the way of the world, it's natural. We can't change it, even if we don't like it. When this is over, maybe I'll get some peace and quiet until you show up." I grin.

Then my vision tunnels. I've used up all my time. I smile. "See ya on the other side. Say goodbye to my pack for me, please."

There was shouting, the rest of the fellowship entered. I began to fade. I smiled, and in a distant voice, say, "See you on the other side."

Then there was blackness.

BOROMIR POV

I can't believe it. She died. Artemis is dead.

How will we continue if our numbers drop so fast? What's going to happen to us?

I throw my head back and let out a cry of grief as her dead eyes stare at the ceiling, and I know those eyes will haunt me for the rest of my life.


	21. Cure

Chapter 21

BOROMIR POV

We have long left Lothlorien with heavy hearts. The Lady of the golden wood gave Artemis the funeral typical of her people, burying her deep into the earth and planting an oak sapling over her, returning her to nature. I don't understand why she's gone. She said it was the natural order, but I can't accept it.

Gandalf was important to us. He died, and just three days after, Artemis follows him.

We're in boats, and I can almost see Gandalf and Artemis sitting here, Artemis trading cheerful banter with the Hobbits and Gandalf rolling his eyes at her and the rest of us when we join in.

All I have to go on is that she died in peace.

ARTEMIS POV

White. After so long in darkness, I see light. It is a beach of silver sands and starlight. I remember the sand sticking in my sand and grin. Those were happy days, just my brother and me, without a care in the world. I should have stayed that way.

But I did something good instead. With the last weeks of my life I helped the saviors of the world.

As my feet touch the ground, a figure bathed in starlight walks up to me.

"Is this heaven?"

"No." He replies. "My name is Námo, you may know me as Mandos, Judge of the dead."

"So I'm not in heaven? Didn't I… am I going to the bad place?"

He chuckles and says, "No. This is the waiting land for the souls of the dead. You must wait here for a while, until you find yourself. You are not done yet, nor is Gandalf the Grey."

"Huh?"

"I have already returned Gandalf. You have yet to return."

"Okay." I reply.

He turns to leave and the question bursts forth. "I must know something first."

He turns and asks, "And what would that be?"

"Is there a way to cure the winter wolves?"

He frowns and says, "I believe so. Yes, there is. I will speak to the one who created your race. She will know what the answer is. You may venture where you like, envision any world you wish. I have a feeling you do not enjoy the beach."

And he was gone.

I imagined myself back in the cabin. I imagined the sun was shining and birds were chirping. I imagined that it was snowing and I was a human. And it happened. A human girl in the snow.

I caught one on my tounge, something I haven't ever done before. I smiled and placed my foot from the porch and into the snow, and it sank into it.

This could actually be fun.

BOROMIR POV

Another night on the water. Another night of Aragorn as a wolf dog-paddling alongside the boats, as he turned into a wolf today. He kept his mind, he can still lead us, but he can only communicate through Legolas. Once Legolas turns, that's gone.

Needless to say, there's a new, gaping hole inside of our chests. None of us are unaccustomed to death, but not like this. Not to the people we've come to care about.

ARTEMIS POV

My enjoyment of this little slice of happieness is interrupted as I find myself on the beach again. I see many elves walking up to the shore, including Erestor.

"Erestor!" I call. He looks up and is more than a bit surprised to see me. "Remember me?"

"How could I forget, Artemis?" He asked.

"Are you dead, too? Did something happen to imladris?"

"You're dead? You are not here on choice?"

"Gandalf, too." I reply. "Erestor, it got really rough out there. I can tell somebody else is going to die."

"You have someone who wishes to speak with you." Erestor says, looking behind me, awed.

I turned to see Námo once again. He had someone with him.

"My name is Oromë." The Valar said. "I am the lord of forests, the hunt, and am the great rider of the Valinor. You are named after another world's incarnation of the same principals as I represent. I created your kind."

"Why?" I ask him. "Why cause all of this suffering?"

"I did not. As I sung your kind, the wolves, into being, Melkor poisoned you. You commonly know Melkor as Morgoth."

I bristled. "I do. He's the one who turned the elves into orcs. Some of my friends used to _be _orcs."

"When the darkness of Melkor was discovered, I gave you the ability to heal like you do." He said. "There is a loophole I created in your kind. The blood of a Lycanthrope who returns twice from their grave can cure the poison set by Melkor, and mixed in a potion with the roots of the yarrow tree and a golden flower of Lorien, will return one to their original state, or the one they wish to keep."

I nod.

"I will return you to your fellowship now, but your body has been returned to the earth. I will place it in their path, but you will be changed. You will no longer be able to turn anyone into a Lycanthrope, and you will be the first of your kind. I intend to help your kind, help undo the curse I have brought about."

I nod again.

"You're going back?" Erestor asks from behind me.

"I'm sure I'll be back here some day." I reply.

"Are you ready?" Asks Omorë.

"It would be selfish to not return." I say. "I am needed. Yes."

He nods and presses his hand on my forehead. The world turns white, and my eyes open. I am standing on the bank of the river. Oromë's voice echoes in my head. _"I grant you the ability to change form at will. In your pack are the plants you need for a cure to your kind's poison. From this point on, I give you the title of guardian. Protect the forests, protect the hunt. Free those who need to be freed, my child."_

I opened my pack, and yes, I do have all the things I need.

I look into the river, and blink. My ears are pointed, not like an elf's. They're curved and larger. My hair is streaked with a soft green to match my chocolate hair. My eyes are still brown, except with dark green in the irises. I have a spherical mark on my forehead with points like a star and a strange dot in the middle, all in light green. The insignia of Oromë. I have a bow and arrows on my back, my familiar knives, and a long cloak and hood.

I am recognizable, which is good.

The fellowship lands.

"Someone is near." Legolas says after a moment.

"Yes, I am." I say, and I step out of the greenery.


	22. Changes

Chapter 22

They stare at me in shock. I look at them calmly.

Boromir speaks first. "A-Artemis?"

"Mhm." I reply.

"You're alive?"

"I didn't exactly die." I reply. "I just changed, again. I'm the first of my kind, and most likely the last."

"What are you now?"

"I don't know yet." I reply, flipping my hood off. They gawk at me for a moment.

"You have a bow." Legolas said.

"Didn't have it when I left, did I?" I reply, fingering the wood.

"It is of fine craftsmanship. May I look at it?" Asks Legolas. I not and hand him the bow, and then something pops into my head. "Don't try to shoot it."

"Why not?"

"Um, the guy who gave it to me is pretty specific it's only for me, so I'd not test that guy."

"Who gave it to you?" Asked Legolas.

"Um, you're never going to believe me."

"Well spit it out, lassie! You've given us all one big scare, why not another." Gimli pipes up.

"Omorë."

Legolas almost dropped the bow.

"The _Valar _Omorë?" He asked in shock.

"Yes." I grab the bow before he can drop it. "He's the one who created Winter wolves in the first place. Sauron's boss twisted it so we have to die all the time, but, not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Asks Boromir.

"He sent me back with a cure." I reply. Then I turn back to Legolas and say, "Erestor says Hi."

"Erestor died?"

"He sailed." I correct him, "But yeah, same concept. I just talked to him."

They stared at me. Then they grinned and Boromir says, "It is so good to see you!"

And they group-hugged me.

"GAH! Yeah, yeah, warm fuzzies all around. Now we have things to do. Let's do them and forget I died!" I say.

We part, and I go to the edge of the circle, drawing the knife across my arm. I crush a yarrow root, and one of the golden flowers, and then mix them together, making enough for two. I stop the bleeding on my arm, and it heals without a scar.

"Legolas, if you and Aragorn want the cure, I have it here."

Aragorn comes to me, able to understand me, but Legolas pauses.

"What?" I ask. Aragorn drinks, and then I throw a cloak on him as he shifts back, and then shuffles into the woods self-consciously.

"I'm not sure if I should. Not yet." He says. The message is clear. If someone else dies, who can save them if you're now the cure?

I nod and say, "That's fair, but I'm not sure it will last."

He nods, and relents, drinking it, and smiling as he feels himself settling into his own skin, then frowns. "Artemis, what was in that potion?"

"You don't want to know." I reply.

"I do." Aragorn says, fully clothed.

"Crushed Yarrow root, flowers of the golden wood, and one who has survived the change twice."

"I just drank your blood!?" Legolas exclaimed.

"If it makes you feel amy better, Aragorn did too."

They looked like they wanted to puke.

"Look on the bright side, you're not going to die." I say with a grin.

They started gagging and staggered away. "I told you so!"

Boromir chuckled.

"Huh, it's funny, people hardly ever say that." I say. "People only ever say it to tell others not to."

"True." Sam said. "We will have to abuse it more often then."

I grin. "That's the spirit!"

Soon we're laughing and talking as if nothing's ever changed, except for our elf and ranger, who are vomiting in the trees.

"So you're an entirely new species?" Asks Frodo.

"I am." She replied.

"What will you call your new kind?"

I thought for a moment and sais, "Lycanthropes."

"Sounds good." Gimli grunts. "A bit of a mouthful, but it works."

I smile, and then realize all my teeth are pointed. So do they.

"Your teeth are very pointy." Gimli comments.

"That probably means I am now a carnivore." I push the lembas bread aside and stand up. "I'll be right back."

I will myself to shift, and I do. I run into the forest, oblivious to their shocked gazes.

I'm just one of a kind.

I manage to find a creban, so I jump and bite it, then devour it. I shift back into myself and realize that my outfit was not shredded, that I'm still wearing it. I walk back into the camp.

"So, what were you doing?" Asked Boromir.

"Killing a Creban." I reply. "And then using it for dinner."

They look a bit grossed out.

"I'm a wolf." I say. "Wolves have to hunt."

They nod and go on with their day. Legolas seems a bit uncomfortable around me.

"So, how has the quest been going?" I ask.

"It's been very sad." Merry replied. "And very Dramatic."

"I have no doubt of that." I say with a grin. "These guys were bound to throw a pity party."

"We thought you were dead!" Boromir replied.

"Well I'm not, so I can eternally annoy you with this." I grin. "So, Merry, did they say anything about me that I shouldn't let them forget?"

They all stiffened, except for Merry. "Legolas sai…" Said elf clapped a hand over Merry's mouth.

We exchange looks, and then we start laughing.

Then I catch a foul scent, like rotting flesh, sweat, and blood, mixed with the scent of an actual being. I bristle and turn towards it just in time to see a pair of glowing eyes vanish.

"Ah, the creature Gollum." Aragorn says. "He has been following us for some time now, even through Moria."

"How did I not notice that? And why did nobody tell me?" I ask.

"You were dead." Boromir replied.

"Námo sent me back."

When they give me blank looks, I correct myself. "Mandos."

They blink at me in surprise. "So you spoke to _two _of the Valar?" Asked Legolas.

"They told me how to end the curse of my kind, and that meant going with you on this quest, so yes, I did. Apparently, according to Mandos, the world's not done with me, stuff like that, Something about Gandalf, I think they erased my memory about most of that part." I comment.

"This quest has the backing of the Valar?" Asks Boromir.

"Yes." I say, voice full of certainty.

"Then the odds are in our favor." Aragorn said.

"I guess we'll see about that." I replied.


	23. The Crossroads

Chapter 23

We continue our trek over land and water for two days before we reach the lake we are meant to cross. We land on the opposite side of the bank, as it is closer and the other side is being watched. We set up camp and Frodo goes to collect firewood.

"So, when to you think the watch on the other bank will leave?" I ask Legolas.

"I do not know." He replies. "Possibly when whatever lurks on this side makes its move."

"I'll take a look around." I say. "Better to strike first than to be caught unawares." I say.

He scowls. "Be careful. Wolves are not a secret anymore."

"Have you seen how hard it is to kill me?" I ask him.

"Not that." He says. "You'll be fine. Just make sure you aren't followed back here, and don't attack. I'm worried about what is out there."

"I'll go find out what it is and how far it is and report back." I reply, shifting and running into the trees.

As I search, I pick up the scent of shadow, along with Frodo and Boromir. I turn in that direction.

I can't see Frodo, but my senses can. He's running from Boromir, who has been taken by the ring.

_No, not Boromir! _My mind snaps into focus.

He is kicked in the head and falls, shaken out of it.

"F-Frodo?" He called. "F-Frodo?"

I walked out of the shadows and shifted back.

"You tried to _kill _him!" I snap. "He's not going to answer you. Get back to camp, I'll find him."

He looks hurt and betrayed, and I suddenly feel terrible for snapping at him. But he's already walking away.

I shift back into a wolf and follow Frodo's trail.

As I walked, I picked up another scent and my eyes widened.

_ORCS!_

An arrow shot past me, and I hear the sounds of fighting. _Boromir!_

I turn and run towards Boromir, and I see him. I leap onto the orc behind him, tearing into him with the full force of a raging wolf.

I can use my teeth now, I can't turn anyone. So I let them have it.

I soon shift back and grab my knives, and like a wraith of death I dance through their ranks, sweating. I've been trained my whole life to fight battles like these. I'm no stranger to conflict. I've killed orcs before this.

FLASHBACK

I was nine. Darrius, Brian, and I were headed to Bree for medical supplies.

"Brian, Darrius, are we there yet?"

Brian sighed. "No, Artemis. We have not arrived."

Five minutes later…

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Artemis." Darrius replied.

An arrow whipped past my head. I let out a startled shriek. The pony beneath me reared and threw me. I scrambled up, wounds already healing. The pony bolted. I grabbed the small set of knives I wear at all times while traveling and stab the orc charging me, then I dart around a few more. Darrius and Brian attack, and I remember my lessons.

_Fighting is like a dance_ Brian had told me. _So dance through the ranks and kill anyone who opposes you._

So that's what I did. They were confused at first when I started dancing, and then they started dying. Ever since then, I have used this technique many times.

END FLASHBACK

These orcs were tall, these orcs were heavily armored. The blows that hit me healed almost instantly, but they slowed me. I killed left and right, but their blows rained down in rapid succession. There was no break. I began to panic, and then I imagined Brian and Darrius beside me, as they had been in my first real battle. _Light on your feet, Artemis!_ I remembered my lessons.

I quit planting my feet to the ground, and dodged the next blow, sending the orc staggering before I slew him.

_It's like a dance, Artemis. Dance through the crowd as if there were no weapons involve. Dodge, don't block, for chances are they're stronger than you._

So I did.

_Find any opening, any weakness, and take advantage of it!_

And I was a whirlwind of death. Orcs that approached me all died. Then I saw Boromir heading away from me. I followed him, picking up the sounds of Merry and Pippin screaming.

An orc jumps in my way, swinging an axe down at my head. I sidestep, spin around behind him, slit his throat, continue pivoting on my heel and stab the side of the other orc's head. Still spinning, I tear my weapons from their heads and trip the next one onto his companion's axe.

I duck another axe, which slams into the throat of another orc and jump over a swipe meant to hamstring me, doing a backflip over his head and kicking him in the back, sending him slamming into his companion's sword. Then I charge after Boromir.

I find him with an arrow in his chest, protecting Merry and Pippin. No, make that three.

As I watch, the final arrow pierces his skin, and he falls dead.

"BOROMIR!" I scream. No, not another. Not another one. I was too late to save him!

The orcs grab Merry and Pippin and retreat.

Boromir will not die in vain.

I shift into a snarling wolf and charge after them. They pay me no heed as I kill the members in the back and chase them, picking them off one by one until an arrow pierces my side, and another the ruff of my neck. I'm stuck to a tree as Merry and Pippin are taken away.

I let out a gurgling howl, ignoring the pain.

Legolas finds me first, pulling out the arrows.

I shift back.

"They killed Boromir." I say, tears streaking down my face. "I was too late to save him."

It dawned on him then that I blamed myself for both Gandalf and Boromir's deaths.

"It is not your fault." He said sadly.

"They got Merry and Pippin. They took them south."

"We will save them." Legolas said. We stood, and went back to where Aragorn was grieving for Boromir.

We lifted his body and moved it from those of the fallen orcs.

One boat is gone. Frodo and Sam are gone too.

Legolas and I exchange one look and go for a boat.

"They have reached the other shore! We must hurry!" Legolas calls.

Aragorn and Gimli do nothing.

"You mean not to follow them." Legolas says.

"We still have to save Merry and Pippin." I reply, setting the boat down.

Aragorn nods. "This is where the fellowship parts."

"Then we have failed." I reply.

"No." He says. "We can still save Merry and Pippin. We can still oppose the shadow in any way we can."

I raise my chin. "It's what Boromir would want us to do."

He nodded.

We placed his body in the boat and let it fall from the waterfall, heads lowered.

We packed our supplies, and Aragorn addressed is. "Let us hunt some orc."


	24. Hunting Orc

Chapter 24

We raced along the orcs' trail, Using both Aragorn and my tracking abilities. I'm _so _incredibly glad that this involves running. I'm in the lead most of the time, Aragorn either running alongside me or behind me, Legoloas behind him, and Gimli in the rear. I jump a large rock that the others have to climb over. Gimli takes the longest.

I didn't wait for them. I am in my wolf form right now. I slow a bit to make sure I'm on the right trail, and sure enough, I am. I continue to race along the countryside. Aragorn is behind me.

Soon, Gimli has to stop and puke. We rest and have a bite to eat, and then we continue on. I'm my pack's runner. I'm _good _at this. I'm also a hunter, like Oromë made me out to be.

Then we continue, Gimli huffing behind us. I grin as the wind rushes through my fur, and I keep on the hunt. I feel the mark on my forehead sending an energy into my limbs. I have the speed of a rider, I am a creature of the forests, and I am a huntress. Now there is no doubt in my mind that he marked me as his own, his huntress.

I keep my pace through the run, but am aware of my allies tiring. I remember my mind link with pack members and send Gimli, who is about to keel over, a burst of strength. I do the same for Aragorn and Legolas and we continue.

As the moon rises, we continue. They eat on the run, which slows us, but keeps us moving. I catch a hare and run ahead with it, eat it, and then when they catch up, we keep going. Maybe I should not have cured Aragorn and Legolas, and had them turn Gimli. That would've made things easier.

I banish the thought.

We continue until both Gimli and Legolas are out of strength and I can't keep providing them with more. I shift to mu human form, surprised that my breathing is so heavy.

"We cannot linger here long." Legolas said.

"You're the one who wanted a break, Legolas." I reply. "You too Gimli."

"As if you aren't exhausted." Gimli says.

"I'm a wolf. I could've kept running for another two days." I reply. "And I can go much faster than I was going. That was a slow trot so you could keep up."

"Sure." Aragorn sighs.

"I'm the fastest wolf in my pack. When I was just a winter wolf, I was the one who chased and brought down our prey."

"So you were a runner?" Asks Gimli.

"Yes." I reply. "As a human, I can run at the speed of a galloping horse and I won't stop for at least a day."

I grabbed my water skin and guzzled a healthy amount down my throat.

"You'll use it up."

"There's a watering hole not far from here. I can go fill it up while you're napping." I reply.

Gimli downed the rest of his. "Mind filling mine, too?"

"Not a problem."

So that's how I ended up making a water run at the speed of a galloping horse, just to show off.

When I return, Legolas and Gimli are asleep. Aragorn is glaring at them.

"They pass out?" I ask him.

"Gimli did first, and since we could not wake him and do not wish to carry him, Legolas followed."

"I know how to wake him up." I reply. I hand Aragorn the waterskins and say, "Who should I wake first? Legolas or Gimli?"

"What are you going to do?"

I gave him an evil grin. "You'll see."

"Legolas." He replies.

First test, I poke him. He doesn't react.

I pick up Gimli's wineskin and overturn it on his head.

Aragorn laughs. Legolas wakes up with a yell. Gimli shouts and wakes up, then snatches his wineskin from me. Legolas is staring at his stained hair and clothing.

"Why?" He asks. He sounds so sad.

Aragorn and I laugh even harder.

"Why would you do this?"

"Well, Legolas," I say, "I asked Aragorn who I should wake first. He chose you."

He rounded on Aragorn.

"Why my wine?"

"Because I didn't want to use the water." I reply. "If Aragorn had chosen to wake you first, I would have dumped it on you."

Legolas and Gimli scowl at us.

"Look, we need to move on, so Legolas, I filled an extra water skin. Get that out of your hair and let's go."

So we moved on.

Soon, light filled the sky.

"A red sun rises." Legolas says. "Blood has been spilled this night."

Nobody decided to pull out the wine-in-your-hair card.

I hadn't bothered to turn into a wolf.

A cavalry of horses rode past us. Aragorn ran out, and I flipped my hood up.

"Riders of Rohan!" He calls, "What news from the mark?"

The horses turned and circled us, and spears were pointed at our heads.

"What business does a man, an elf, a dwarf, and a woman have with the Riddermark?" Asks the leader. "Speak quickly."

"Give me your name, horsemaster, and I will give you mine." Gimli said.

"I would chop off your head, dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

"You would die before your stroke fell!" Legolas and I both drew our bows back, aimed right at the leader, arrows notched, and my hood pushed back.

They pushed their spears closer to us. My gut clenched, but I did not waver, or show any sign of nervousness. I'm the first of my kind, I am the third in command of my pack. I will _not _submit.

"Legolas, Artemis," Aragorn said, and we lowered our weapons. They backed off.

"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin, Legolas Thranduilion of the woodland Realm, and Artemis daughter of none." He introduces us. His horse glares at me. _I don't like you_ it says.

"We are _friends _of Rohan." Aragorn says, "And of Theoden your king."

If I so much as tell the guy I was raised by Darrius he'll be fine with me. I recognize his scent from the bridle that Swift wore when he was given to Darrius.

"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe." The leader says. "Not even his own kin." He takes his helmet off.

The men lower their spears.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over his lands."

We exchange looks. This is really, _really _bad.

"My company are those loyal to Rohan, and for that we are banished." He leans forwards. "The white wizard is cunning. He walks here and there they say," He begins to pace, "As an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies cross our borders."

"We are not spies." Aragorn says. "We are hunting orcs."

"We killed them all in the night." He gestured to a burning pile. "We piled their carcasses and burned them."

My face turned pale.

"There were two hobbits!" Gimli says. "Did you see two hobbits with them?"

"They were small, only children in your eyes." Aragorn explains.

""We left none alive." The leader says.

My face was twisted in pain. Now again I'm too late to save someone I care about.

All of us are horrified, with pained looks on our faces.

"I am sorry." He says. He really is.

"Asafoth, Beron, Yael!" He calls, and three horses stride forwards, one white, one was a molted grey and black horse.

"Take these horses. May they bring you more luck than their former masters."

Yael gives me the strangest look I've ever seen a horse give me. _I like you_

He mounted up. "Search, but do not trust a hope." He says, mounting his beast, and they rode away.

We lower our heads as they leave.

I get on Yael, Legolas gets on Asafoth, and Aragorn rides Beron.

We make it to the site in minutes. An orc head is on a spear by a pile of smoking corpses. I can't make out one scent from another, they're so cloaked with death, but I can smell hobbit.

We dismount and begin to dig through the pile.

Gimli pulls out a belt. It is small. It belongs to one of the hobbits.

"It's one of their wee belts." He said.

I give a strangled choking noise.

Aragorn kicks an orc helmet and screams to high heavens.

I unconsciously shift into a wolf, howling. I can actually see a tear on Legolas's face. Gimli is also upset.

Boromir died in vain. Gandalf died in vain. Merry and Pippin died in vain because we're not with Frodo and Sam, completing the quest.

Aragorn sinks to his knees.

"We failed them." Gimli said.

"We're too late!" I say, a human now. I can't stay in one form. "EVERY TIME WE'RE TOO LATE TOO LATE TO SAVE GANDALF, TOO LATE TO SAVE BOROMIR, AND NOW TOO LATE TO SAVE MERRY AND PIPPIN!"

I swing a clawed hand, tearing open the dead orc head.

Then Aragorn picks up a trail, he starts moving things. I frown. I can smell them. It's faint, but they were there.

"A hobbit lay here." Aragorn says. "They were followed."

"Their hands were bound."

We continue following him.

"Their bonds were cut!"

Maybe they're not dead after all!

He stands, and we follow the trail at a faster pace, afraid to lose it.

"They ran over here."

"They were followed." He says again. My hope is dying.

Then we started to run. "Their tracks lead away from the battle!"

Then we stop. "And into fanghorn forest."

The trail is clear here.

"What madness drove them in there?" Asked Gimli.

"The madness of that battle. C'mon, they left a clear scent trail, I can track them from here!" I shift into a wolf and before giving a second thought, dart into the forest. There's still hope for them yet.

I think they only followed to get me out, but I really don't care. I have the lord of all forests on my side, we should be safe.

Then the trail abruptly stopped. I stopped, confused, and began to search for it. They caught up to me, and I turned into a human. "The trail ends here." I say, gesturing to the crater-like hole in the ground, and the squished orc-body nearby. "I haven't ever run into this problem before." I scratched my head.

"It's the trees." Legolas said. I realize that even _he's _nervous in this forest.

"Don't be silly." I say. "I've heard of something that fits this description, though. They're called Ents, the tree-shepherds in this forest. With all the tree-demolishing the orcs are doing, if they're with an ent, they're either safe or doomed 'cause they were near orcs. I don't think I need to point out where this trail goes."

"Aragorn Nad-noenas." _Aragorn, someone's out there._

Gimli's the only one who didn't understand that.

"What's he saying?" Asks Gimli.

"Someone's out there." I translate, and we draw our weapons.

"What are they saying?" Aragorn's referring to the trees.

"The White Wizard Approaches." Legolas says.

"Saruman." I growl.

"Do not let him speak, for he will put a spell on us." Aragorn instructs quietly.

I place my knives in their sheaths and pull out my bow, notching an arrow. Here's where we make our stand against Saruman.

"We must be quick." Aragorn says.

He places a hand on the hilt of his sword, Gimli tightens his grip on his axe. Legolas and I pull the arrows tight.

We whirl around. A blinding white light shines forth. I aim at the center and fire. My arrow shatters, and Legolas's flies away. Gimli's axe misses its mark, and Aragorn's sword bursts into flame.

What was I thinking?

We're defeated. Legolas and I refuse to put down our bows. Aragorn covers his eye with one arm, holding the other close to him, Grunting in pain. Gimli no longer has an axe to throw, so he stands there like a living shield. I give him ten points for courage, or is it stupidity? Eh, never mind.

He speaks. We know we've lost, but he does not change the light, and there is a whining in the air, and a familiar undertone. I cock my head. I've never heard Saruman speak before…

"You are tracking the footsteps of two young Hobbits."

"Where are they?" Asks Aragorn.

"They passed this way, the day before yesterday. They met someone they did not expect."

"Gandalf!" I can't suppress it anymore.

The light fades.

"I see there is no deceiving you, young Artemis." Gandalf smiled.

"It cannot be." Aragorn gasps.

It's too good to be true. Despite the fact that I discovered the truth, I was gaping myself. I put my bow in its sling.

"Forgive me." Legolas said. "I mistook you for Saruman."

We all got on our knees.

"I _am _Saruman." I stiffen.

"The Saruman as it should be." I relax.

"You fell." Aragorn said.

"I couldn't save you." I add.

"Through fire, and water."

Now I understand.

"From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak I fought the Balrog of Morgoth, until at last I smote its ruin on the mountainside."

Glorfindel isn't the only balrog slayer anymore.

"Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time. The stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as a life age of the earth. But in the end, I felt life in me again." He says. "I've been sent back until my task is done."

"Gandalf." Aragorn says softly, approaching the new white wizard.

"Gandalf." He says. "Hm, yes, that was my name. Gandalf the grey."

I tilt my head in confusion.

"Gandalf." Gimli repeats.

"I am Gandalf the white."

Legolas and I smile, side by side, at the wizard. I feel as if a hundred pounds were lifted from my heart. It wasn't my fault, he came back. He's alright. I don't have to grieve or blame myself anymore.

"And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide."

We follow him, single file. Gandalf is in the lead, followed by Aragorn, followed by me, followed by Legolas, followed by Gimli.

"One stage of your journey is over, and another begins. You must travel to Edoras with Horse speed."

"Edoras?" Gimli asks. "That is no short distance!"

"It is when you're a squat short-legged dwarf." I joke.

"We hear of trouble with the riders. It goes ill with the king." Aragorn reports.

I hear Gimli huffing behind me and grin.

"Yes, and it won't be easy to cure." Gandalf says.

"Then we have run all this way for _nothing_." Gimli complains.

"Oh, put a sock in it." I shoot back. I Legolas grins at me, while Gimli scowls.

He ignores me. "Now we leave the hobbits in this horrid, dark, tree-infested…" The trees croak dangerously. "Ah, very, charming, quite charming, forest?" Gimli amends himself. I exchange another grin with Legolas.

"I'd apologize if I were you. Remember that orc?" Asks Legolas.

"Yes, um, I am very sorry…"

"If I could record this moment and show it to everyone, I would." I reply.

"Elladan and Elrohir would love to hear about it." Legolas agreed.

"Let's live through this quest so we can rub it in, shall we?" I say. He nods, an evil smile on his face. We continue.

"It was more than mere chance that brought Merry and Pippin to Fanghorn." Gandalf says. "A great power has been sleeping here for many long years."

"The ents?" I ask, while Legolas smiles up at the trees.

He ignores me. "The coming of Merry and Pippin are like the falling of small stones that set off an avalanche."

"At least one thing has not changed." Aragorn says. "You still speak in riddles."

I think I'm rubbing off on him. We smile. Gandalf chuckles. Gimli looks terrified. This would be an excellent moment to freeze, and carry with us and show everyone.

"A thing is about to happen that has not happened since the elder days." He says. "Then ents are going to wake up."

I knew it.


	25. The Ride to Rohan

Chapter 24

We raced along the orcs' trail, Using both Aragorn and my tracking abilities. I'm _so _incredibly glad that this involves running. I'm in the lead most of the time, Aragorn either running alongside me or behind me, Legoloas behind him, and Gimli in the rear. I jump a large rock that the others have to climb over. Gimli takes the longest.

I didn't wait for them. I am in my wolf form right now. I slow a bit to make sure I'm on the right trail, and sure enough, I am. I continue to race along the countryside. Aragorn is behind me.

Soon, Gimli has to stop and puke. We rest and have a bite to eat, and then we continue on. I'm my pack's runner. I'm _good _at this. I'm also a hunter, like Oromë made me out to be.

Then we continue, Gimli huffing behind us. I grin as the wind rushes through my fur, and I keep on the hunt. I feel the mark on my forehead sending an energy into my limbs. I have the speed of a rider, I am a creature of the forests, and I am a huntress. Now there is no doubt in my mind that he marked me as his own, his huntress.

I keep my pace through the run, but am aware of my allies tiring. I remember my mind link with pack members and send Gimli, who is about to keel over, a burst of strength. I do the same for Aragorn and Legolas and we continue.

As the moon rises, we continue. They eat on the run, which slows us, but keeps us moving. I catch a hare and run ahead with it, eat it, and then when they catch up, we keep going. Maybe I should not have cured Aragorn and Legolas, and had them turn Gimli. That would've made things easier.

I banish the thought.

We continue until both Gimli and Legolas are out of strength and I can't keep providing them with more. I shift to mu human form, surprised that my breathing is so heavy.

"We cannot linger here long." Legolas said.

"You're the one who wanted a break, Legolas." I reply. "You too Gimli."

"As if you aren't exhausted." Gimli says.

"I'm a wolf. I could've kept running for another two days." I reply. "And I can go much faster than I was going. That was a slow trot so you could keep up."

"Sure." Aragorn sighs.

"I'm the fastest wolf in my pack. When I was just a winter wolf, I was the one who chased and brought down our prey."

"So you were a runner?" Asks Gimli.

"Yes." I reply. "As a human, I can run at the speed of a galloping horse and I won't stop for at least a day."

I grabbed my water skin and guzzled a healthy amount down my throat.

"You'll use it up."

"There's a watering hole not far from here. I can go fill it up while you're napping." I reply.

Gimli downed the rest of his. "Mind filling mine, too?"

"Not a problem."

So that's how I ended up making a water run at the speed of a galloping horse, just to show off.

When I return, Legolas and Gimli are asleep. Aragorn is glaring at them.

"They pass out?" I ask him.

"Gimli did first, and since we could not wake him and do not wish to carry him, Legolas followed."

"I know how to wake him up." I reply. I hand Aragorn the waterskins and say, "Who should I wake first? Legolas or Gimli?"

"What are you going to do?"

I gave him an evil grin. "You'll see."

"Legolas." He replies.

First test, I poke him. He doesn't react.

I pick up Gimli's wineskin and overturn it on his head.

Aragorn laughs. Legolas wakes up with a yell. Gimli shouts and wakes up, then snatches his wineskin from me. Legolas is staring at his stained hair and clothing.

"Why?" He asks. He sounds so sad.

Aragorn and I laugh even harder.

"Why would you do this?"

"Well, Legolas," I say, "I asked Aragorn who I should wake first. He chose you."

He rounded on Aragorn.

"Why my wine?"

"Because I didn't want to use the water." I reply. "If Aragorn had chosen to wake you first, I would have dumped it on you."

Legolas and Gimli scowl at us.

"Look, we need to move on, so Legolas, I filled an extra water skin. Get that out of your hair and let's go."

So we moved on.

Soon, light filled the sky.

"A red sun rises." Legolas says. "Blood has been spilled this night."

Nobody decided to pull out the wine-in-your-hair card.

I hadn't bothered to turn into a wolf.

A cavalry of horses rode past us. Aragorn ran out, and I flipped my hood up.

"Riders of Rohan!" He calls, "What news from the mark?"

The horses turned and circled us, and spears were pointed at our heads.

"What business does a man, an elf, a dwarf, and a woman have with the Riddermark?" Asks the leader. "Speak quickly."

"Give me your name, horsemaster, and I will give you mine." Gimli said.

"I would chop off your head, dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

"You would die before your stroke fell!" Legolas and I both drew our bows back, aimed right at the leader, arrows notched, and my hood pushed back.

They pushed their spears closer to us. My gut clenched, but I did not waver, or show any sign of nervousness. I'm the first of my kind, I am the third in command of my pack. I will _not _submit.

"Legolas, Artemis," Aragorn said, and we lowered our weapons. They backed off.

"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin, Legolas Thranduilion of the woodland Realm, and Artemis daughter of none." He introduces us. His horse glares at me. _I don't like you_ it says.

"We are _friends _of Rohan." Aragorn says, "And of Theoden your king."

If I so much as tell the guy I was raised by Darrius he'll be fine with me. I recognize his scent from the bridle that Swift wore when he was given to Darrius.

"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe." The leader says. "Not even his own kin." He takes his helmet off.

The men lower their spears.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over his lands."

We exchange looks. This is really, _really _bad.

"My company are those loyal to Rohan, and for that we are banished." He leans forwards. "The white wizard is cunning. He walks here and there they say," He begins to pace, "As an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies cross our borders."

"We are not spies." Aragorn says. "We are hunting orcs."

"We killed them all in the night." He gestured to a burning pile. "We piled their carcasses and burned them."

My face turned pale.

"There were two hobbits!" Gimli says. "Did you see two hobbits with them?"

"They were small, only children in your eyes." Aragorn explains.

""We left none alive." The leader says.

My face was twisted in pain. Now again I'm too late to save someone I care about.

All of us are horrified, with pained looks on our faces.

"I am sorry." He says. He really is.

"Asafoth, Beron, Yael!" He calls, and three horses stride forwards, one white, one was a molted grey and black horse.

"Take these horses. May they bring you more luck than their former masters."

Yael gives me the strangest look I've ever seen a horse give me. _I like you_

He mounted up. "Search, but do not trust a hope." He says, mounting his beast, and they rode away.

We lower our heads as they leave.

I get on Yael, Legolas gets on Asafoth, and Aragorn rides Beron.

We make it to the site in minutes. An orc head is on a spear by a pile of smoking corpses. I can't make out one scent from another, they're so cloaked with death, but I can smell hobbit.

We dismount and begin to dig through the pile.

Gimli pulls out a belt. It is small. It belongs to one of the hobbits.

"It's one of their wee belts." He said.

I give a strangled choking noise.

Aragorn kicks an orc helmet and screams to high heavens.

I unconsciously shift into a wolf, howling. I can actually see a tear on Legolas's face. Gimli is also upset.

Boromir died in vain. Gandalf died in vain. Merry and Pippin died in vain because we're not with Frodo and Sam, completing the quest.

Aragorn sinks to his knees.

"We failed them." Gimli said.

"We're too late!" I say, a human now. I can't stay in one form. "EVERY TIME WE'RE TOO LATE TOO LATE TO SAVE GANDALF, TOO LATE TO SAVE BOROMIR, AND NOW TOO LATE TO SAVE MERRY AND PIPPIN!"

I swing a clawed hand, tearing open the dead orc head.

Then Aragorn picks up a trail, he starts moving things. I frown. I can smell them. It's faint, but they were there.

"A hobbit lay here." Aragorn says. "They were followed."

"Their hands were bound."

We continue following him.

"Their bonds were cut!"

Maybe they're not dead after all!

He stands, and we follow the trail at a faster pace, afraid to lose it.

"They ran over here."

"They were followed." He says again. My hope is dying.

Then we started to run. "Their tracks lead away from the battle!"

Then we stop. "And into fanghorn forest."

The trail is clear here.

"What madness drove them in there?" Asked Gimli.

"The madness of that battle. C'mon, they left a clear scent trail, I can track them from here!" I shift into a wolf and before giving a second thought, dart into the forest. There's still hope for them yet.

I think they only followed to get me out, but I really don't care. I have the lord of all forests on my side, we should be safe.

Then the trail abruptly stopped. I stopped, confused, and began to search for it. They caught up to me, and I turned into a human. "The trail ends here." I say, gesturing to the crater-like hole in the ground, and the squished orc-body nearby. "I haven't ever run into this problem before." I scratched my head.

"It's the trees." Legolas said. I realize that even _he's _nervous in this forest.

"Don't be silly." I say. "I've heard of something that fits this description, though. They're called Ents, the tree-shepherds in this forest. With all the tree-demolishing the orcs are doing, if they're with an ent, they're either safe or doomed 'cause they were near orcs. I don't think I need to point out where this trail goes."

"Aragorn Nad-noenas." _Aragorn, someone's out there._

Gimli's the only one who didn't understand that.

"What's he saying?" Asks Gimli.

"Someone's out there." I translate, and we draw our weapons.

"What are they saying?" Aragorn's referring to the trees.

"The White Wizard Approaches." Legolas says.

"Saruman." I growl.

"Do not let him speak, for he will put a spell on us." Aragorn instructs quietly.

I place my knives in their sheaths and pull out my bow, notching an arrow. Here's where we make our stand against Saruman.

"We must be quick." Aragorn says.

He places a hand on the hilt of his sword, Gimli tightens his grip on his axe. Legolas and I pull the arrows tight.

We whirl around. A blinding white light shines forth. I aim at the center and fire. My arrow shatters, and Legolas's flies away. Gimli's axe misses its mark, and Aragorn's sword bursts into flame.

What was I thinking?

We're defeated. Legolas and I refuse to put down our bows. Aragorn covers his eye with one arm, holding the other close to him, Grunting in pain. Gimli no longer has an axe to throw, so he stands there like a living shield. I give him ten points for courage, or is it stupidity? Eh, never mind.

He speaks. We know we've lost, but he does not change the light, and there is a whining in the air, and a familiar undertone. I cock my head. I've never heard Saruman speak before…

"You are tracking the footsteps of two young Hobbits."

"Where are they?" Asks Aragorn.

"They passed this way, the day before yesterday. They met someone they did not expect."

"Gandalf!" I can't suppress it anymore.

The light fades.

"I see there is no deceiving you, young Artemis." Gandalf smiled.

"It cannot be." Aragorn gasps.

It's too good to be true. Despite the fact that I discovered the truth, I was gaping myself. I put my bow in its sling.

"Forgive me." Legolas said. "I mistook you for Saruman."

We all got on our knees.

"I _am _Saruman." I stiffen.

"The Saruman as it should be." I relax.

"You fell." Aragorn said.

"I couldn't save you." I add.

"Through fire, and water."

Now I understand.

"From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak I fought the Balrog of Morgoth, until at last I smote its ruin on the mountainside."

Glorfindel isn't the only balrog slayer anymore.

"Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time. The stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as a life age of the earth. But in the end, I felt life in me again." He says. "I've been sent back until my task is done."

"Gandalf." Aragorn says softly, approaching the new white wizard.

"Gandalf." He says. "Hm, yes, that was my name. Gandalf the grey."

I tilt my head in confusion.

"Gandalf." Gimli repeats.

"I am Gandalf the white."

Legolas and I smile, side by side, at the wizard. I feel as if a hundred pounds were lifted from my heart. It wasn't my fault, he came back. He's alright. I don't have to grieve or blame myself anymore.

"And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide."

We follow him, single file. Gandalf is in the lead, followed by Aragorn, followed by me, followed by Legolas, followed by Gimli.

"One stage of your journey is over, and another begins. You must travel to Edoras with Horse speed."

"Edoras?" Gimli asks. "That is no short distance!"

"It is when you're a squat short-legged dwarf." I joke.

"We hear of trouble with the riders. It goes ill with the king." Aragorn reports.

I hear Gimli huffing behind me and grin.

"Yes, and it won't be easy to cure." Gandalf says.

"Then we have run all this way for _nothing_." Gimli complains.

"Oh, put a sock in it." I shoot back. I Legolas grins at me, while Gimli scowls.

He ignores me. "Now we leave the hobbits in this horrid, dark, tree-infested…" The trees croak dangerously. "Ah, very, charming, quite charming, forest?" Gimli amends himself. I exchange another grin with Legolas.

"I'd apologize if I were you. Remember that orc?" Asks Legolas.

"Yes, um, I am very sorry…"

"If I could record this moment and show it to everyone, I would." I reply.

"Elladan and Elrohir would love to hear about it." Legolas agreed.

"Let's live through this quest so we can rub it in, shall we?" I say. He nods, an evil smile on his face. We continue.

"It was more than mere chance that brought Merry and Pippin to Fanghorn." Gandalf says. "A great power has been sleeping here for many long years."

"The ents?" I ask, while Legolas smiles up at the trees.

He ignores me. "The coming of Merry and Pippin are like the falling of small stones that set off an avalanche."

"At least one thing has not changed." Aragorn says. "You still speak in riddles."

I think I'm rubbing off on him. We smile. Gandalf chuckles. Gimli looks terrified. This would be an excellent moment to freeze, and carry with us and show everyone.

"A thing is about to happen that has not happened since the elder days." He says. "Then ents are going to wake up."

I knew it.


	26. Pointy Ears

Chapter 26

We all attend the funeral, and I even join the procession. I met this guy once, when I was traveling with Darrius. I'd been young then, so had he, but younger than I was. I was a wolf then, but I feel like I know him.

Eowen is in tears by the funeral mound. The guards take him into the mound. Nobody says a word.

One of the women began chanting words in a language I do not know. I recognize it as Eowen.

They seal the tomb. The funeral is over. We disperse.

"You knew him." Legolas said to me. It wasn't a question.

"I was a wolf when we met. I strayed from the pack. It was fall, I was looking for Darrius because he hadn't returned. He was assisting a Rohirim Cavalry with Swift. They were protecting Theodred from the orcs. He was separated, and I led him back. I met him, but I did not know him."

He nods. "When was this?"

"I was fifteen, he must have been ten or eleven." I reply. "Did you ever meet him?"

"I have never been to Rohan before." Legolas admits.

"Huh. Did you know this is my pack leader's homeland?"

"I guessed."

"He saved the life of a Rohirim noble, about forty years ago, and went through the first phase of the change during the celebratory feast for their success in Battle."

"I thought you said that wolves only live for around twenty years."

"Darrius was smart. When people started rejecting the change around him, he got into peak physical and mental condition. He's the reason a lot of us make it as long as we did." I reply.

He nods.

"Do you know how he died?" He asks me.

"How would I know a thing like that?" I ask.

"Well, um…"

"He died in combat." I reply. There were traces of blood and infection in his scent, as well as poison. He was wounded and died recently."

Gimli walks up to us. "I see the pointed-ears are plotting again."

"Plotting?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Looking for further ways to irritate people in your case." Gimli gestures to me, "And ways to prove your skill." He points at Legolas.

I scowl at him. "We were talking about Theodred."

"You shouldn't talk about someone so soon after they've been buried unless it's to remember him, and you never met him."

"I did." I reply.

"Oh, ah, I'll be going." Gimli walks away.

We exchange looks.

"Next time I see him, It's going to be to make his life miserable." Legolas resolves.

"And what's with that pointed-ear thing? He's okay with me and my Valar-mark turning into a wolf whenever I want, but he draws the line at pointy ears?" I ask.

Legolas chuckles.

Suddenly, I see a horse crest a hill outside of the city. A small figure fell off.

"Oh, Valar no." I whisper. He turns and sees what I do. We race to the gate, where we see Gandalf and Theoden helping two exhausted, filthy children and a horse into the city.

"What happened?" I ask.

"Their village was destroyed by wild men." Theoden replied, "Like so many others."

I take the girl from Theoden. The girl is unconscious and bruised. The boy is barely on his feet. I carry her inside and Eowyn instantly takes her from me. I watch them go. I enter the halls again, where the boy is off with one of the guards.

By the looks on the guards' faces, this is not the first time such a thing has happened.

"Do you believe there will be a counter attack? You know Rohan better than I." I speak softly to Aragorn.

"I do not know." Aragorn admits. "Gandalf would better know of this matter. He is speaking to Theoden now."

"I think the answer is obvious. War will result in many casualties, but if they just lie down and let it happen they will all be destroyed. They need to fight back."

"I know." He replies. "Unfortunately Theoden may not see our point of view."

Soon, the children come out and are given food and drink while matters of war/submission to death are discussed.

"They had no warning." Eowen says. "They were unarmed. Now the wild men are moving through the westfold burning as they go. Like a cotton tree."

I stand by Legolas, who stands by a sitting Aragorn and Gimli.

"Where is mamma?" The little girl asks. I keep my flinch hidden. I've been there, when Maddison Ellis died. Eowyn places a blanket around her shoulders, shushing her.

"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash." Gandalf says. "All the more potent fiefs are being driven out by Saruman. Ride out and meet him head on."

Finally! Someone has said the solution to this problem. Just mow 'em down!

"Draw them away from your women and children." Gandalf says. I decide to not mention that I'm a woman and I'd kill at least half of them on my own before they could land an instantly fatal blow, killing me.

"You must fight." Gandalf says.

That's your solution, right there. Don't lie down and let them rip you to pieces, get up and show them whose boss!

"You have two thousand good men riding north as we speak." Aragorn points out. "Eomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king."

Theoden rises. "They will be three hundred leagues from here by now. Eomer cannot help us. I know what it is you want of me, but I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war."

I'm about to tell him, in a much cruder way, mind you, what Aragorn says next. "Open war is upon you, would you risk it or not."

"When last I looked, Theoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan." He snaps.

I almost shout at him, instead settling for rubbing my tounge along my sharp teeth and think about talking and letting Theoden catch a glimpse of them.

They stare at each other until GImli puts down his ale and belches quietly.

"Then what is the king's decision?" Asks Gandalf.

"The city will be evacuated. We go to helms deep." Theoden decides.

Gandalf leaves the room. I follow him, Legolas to my right, Aragorn in front of me and Gimli behind us.

"Helms deep!" Legolas scoffs.

"They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight!" Gimli seethes.

"They're horse masters, they should play their biggest strength, ride out and meet them!" I growl. "But Nooo, they go hide, as Gimli said."

"Who will defend them if not their king?" Gimli asks, raising a fair point.

"He is only doing what he thinks is best for his people. Helms Deep has saved them in the past." Aragorn says.

"There is no way out of that ravine. Theoden is walking into a trap." Gandalf says.

"Grima!" I say, "He's probably already gone and spilled everything to Saruman. Saruman will _know _that this is where Rohan will go for refuge! They will trap the rohirrim there and kill all they come across."

"Exactly." Gandalf says. "He thinks he's leading them to safety, but what he'll get is a massacre." His last comment is directed at Aragorn. "Theoden has a strong will but I fear for him. I fear for the survival of Rohan. He will need you near the end, Aragorn. The people of Rohan will need you. The defenses have to hold."

He and Aragorn continue forwards while Legolas, Gimli and I stand by the entrance.

"Now what?" Asks Gimli.

"My guess, we go with the idiots to Helms Deep and try our best to save their lives." I reply.

"If that doesn't work?" Legolas asks.

"Eh, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it." Says Gimli.

One of the horses tried to kick me through the stable door.

"Eesh, maybe I shouldn't come in here. Horses generally tend to hate me and I don't want to make them all mad right now." I say, eyeing the horse warily.

"Good thought." Legolas says as one of the horses realize he's being friendly to the person they dislike and hive him a death glare. Gimli's too short to be anything to them but an unpleasant smell.

We back up a few paces and resume our conversation.

"What are they saying?" Asks GImli, gesturing towards Aragorn and Gandalf.

"Alright. Gandalf says, "Look to my coming on the fifth day, at dawn, look to the east.""

Then, catching us all unprepared, Shadowfax lunges forwards. We dodge to the sides to avoid being run over.

Aragorn heads deeper into the stable, and Gimli follows him.

"I'm not going in there." I say.

Legolas raises an eyebrow. "The fearsome wolf girl is afraid of horses?"

"If just about every single one in the world wanted you dead, you'd be too." I reply.

He shrugged. "I suppose I wouldn't want to be on a horse's bad side."

One of them kicks the gate to a stall. I back out of the stable, and Legolas follows me.

"It's a pity those horses can't use all that pent up rage to, I don't know, carry riders to defeat the forces of Saruman." I say.

He nods. "It is a pity. Two minutes in a stable when you're around and I am convinced that Rohan would win if Theoden went to war."

"You should know I have a perfectly fine sense of hearing."

Legolas and I wince, realizing that Theoden was standing right behind us.

"Just because the horses are angry does not mean we would win." He says.

"I know that." I say. "But you do have several advantages here that you will lose upon entering Helms Deep."

"What would a woman know of conflict _or _the ways of Rohan?"

"Just because I'm female does not mean I do not know how to fight _or _that I am uneducated." I reply.

He frowns. "Who taught you?"

"Darrius Borranson." I reply.

He scowls at me. "That man is long dead."

"No he's not." I reply.

"Prove you know him."

"One, He has two horses that he brought to my pack, A black mare and a shorter brown horse. He received the mare as a gift for saving a nobleman's life. Later, during the celebration, he choked up most of his blood on the table and appeared to die. Later he woke up and turned into a wolf and ran off, and you found only wolf tracks and no body when you went to bury him, and both his horses were gone. He likes to wear a Fadora, speaks with a weird accent, and has tragically pale skin. He's a fitness freak…"

"What was that about turning into a wolf?" Asks Theoden.

"You didn't honestly think I was human, did you?" I ask, flipping my hood off.

"Your ears, and your tattoo…"

"They're wolf ears and the mark of one of the Valar." I say. Then I turned into a wolf, and shifted back. "Darrius is what we call a winter wolf. During the summer, he is a human. In the winter, he is a wolf. He's the longest-lived wolf in history."

"What are you?"

"I'm a lycanthrope." I reply. "The new and improved version of a winter wolf. This is why horses generally dislike me. The black mare didn't, but he got his legs broken in an orc trap last year and can't walk without a serious limp now. It's sad." I say, "He used to be such a fast horse."

He nods. "I assume he taught you how to fight?"

"He didn't teach me much of what I know," I say, "But he is responsible for getting me on a horse. He also taught me about battle tactics and strategies. What I was saying is that you have home turf advantage here. You also have a bunch of horses, and riders. Those are your strengths. In the packs, we always fought on our strengths. This whole retreat thing is new to me."

He nods and walks away. "I thought he'd never leave."

"That was rather awkward." Legolas says. "I do not believe he likes you very much."

He exits with the horse that tried to kill me. I roll my eyes. "That explains a lot."


	27. Eowyn's Cooking

Chapter 27

**Saruman POV**

"Gandalf the _white_." He seethes. "Gandalf the _full_. Does he seek to humble me with his newfound propriety?"

"There were four who followed the wizard." Grima said, entering the room. "An elf, a woman, a dwarf, and a man."

"You stink of horse." Growls Saruman. Grima turns and walks away. Then Saruman stops. "A man. Was he from Gondor?"

"No, from the North." Grima said. "One of the Dunedain Rangers of the thought he was. His cloths were poor. And yet, he bore a strange ring. Two serpents with emerald eyes. One devouring, one drowned in golden flowers."

After searching his library, Saruman reports, "The ring of Barahir. So Gandalf Greyhame thinks he has found Isildur's heir, the lost king of Gondor. He is a fool. The line had broken years ago." He closes the book and slides it up his desk. "It matters not. The world of men shall fall. It will begin at Edoras."

"Another thing." Grima says.

"What now?"

"The woman, it wasn't human. It wasn't an elf, nor a dwarf or Halfling. It had a green mark on her forehead, green in her hair, blazing emerald rings inside of her brown Irises. Her ears were pointed, but deeper than an elf's. She had claws and fangs as well."

He frowned. "I have never heard of such a creature."

"I have."

A rumbling, snarling, raspy voice echoed through the room. Pureblood Gel-gein entered the room. "She is not supposed to be able to exist. My kind made sure of that. You know of the winter wolves. Their curse is to die every time they near the age of twenty five. The poison in their blood should make sure of that. This one somehow pulled through." He wheeled on Grima. "Tell me, did she have a scar, no, a birthmark shaped like a star next to her left eye?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Artemis." He growled. "She escaped my control once. Now she has gained the favor of the Valar?" He almost roared.

"You say she has a pack?"

"Aye."

"Then hunt them down." He replies. "I want their leader's head. Send the rest scattering."

The pureblood growls and smiled, and then lumbers from the room.

ARTEMIS POV

I had previously been riding Yael, until I saw a pregnant woman with a child in her arms walking. I had given Yael to her, seeing as I do not necessarily need a horse.

Now I walk alongside Asfaloth. Legolas rides in front of Gimli on the white war horse.

"You intend to walk all this way, lassie?" Asks Gimli.

"I can, and I will." I reply. "Someone else needed the horse more than I do."

Gimli shakes his head and muttered something about crazy pointy-eared folk.

"What is so wrong with pointed ears, Gimli?" Asks Legolas.

"They're just odd."

"So me turning into a wolf whenever I feel like it is not weird?" I ask.

"And the fact that an elf and a dwarf are working together at all, is that not strange as well?" Asks Legolas.

"You don't find it odd that I've come back from the dead twice,"

Legolas and I said the next part in unison, "Though pointed ears are odd."

Aragorn chuckles from nearby.

"I swear you two will be the end of me." Gimli grumbles.

"Glad to be of service." I joke.

Somewhere along the line, Gimli ended up on a different horse than Legolas. He's now talking to Eowyn.

"It isn't true there aren't many dwarf women." He says. "In fact we are so alike in voice and appearance, that they're often mistaken for dawf men."

I grin at Legolas and say, "Those dwarf ladies must be ugly."

He chuckles.

Eowyn looks back at Aragorn for an explanation. _"It's the beards." _He whispers, pretending to stroke one on himself. Eowyn snorts.

"And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there _are _no dwarf women!" Eowyn laughs. "And that dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground!"

Eowyn, Aragorn, Legolas and I laugh. Who knew actually listening to Gimli could be so entertaining?

Oh, wait…

FLASHBACK

"_Now we have to leave the hobbits in a dark, tree infested… Ah, very charming, Quite Charming forest?"_

"_Weird Pointy-eared folk…"_

END FLASHBACKS

Gimli chuckles. "Which is totally ridiculous, or course ridiculous… AAAH!"

Eowyn had leaned on the horse's flank, prompting it to start running. I laugh again as the Gimli and the horse break ranks and Gimli falls off.

Aragorn, Legolas and I are grinning.

"So Gimli, how does it feel to know that you can't ride a pony?" I call after him.

"It's alright, I'm alright, nobody panick!" Gimli calls.

I catch Aragorn rolling his eyes as he rides up to Theoden.

"Maybe this is going to end badly for all of us," Legolas says, "But we can take comfort in knowing that Gimli will always be clumsy and awkward as ever."

"Or if he has to save our lives one day, remember this moment and realize we're doomed." I reply jokingly.

"I have not seen my niece smile in a long time." Theoden tells Aragorn. I know I shouldn't evesdrop, but I will anyways. "She was a girl when they brought her father back dead, cut down by orcs. She watched her mother succumb to grief. Then she was left alone, to tend her king in growing fear, doomed to wait upon an old man who should've loved her as a father."

We continue walking and I say, "Arwen is not going to be happy about this if she has not sailed."

"Believe me when I say Arwen has not sailed." Legolas says. "She will not be happy about this."

We continued until evening, when we made camp with the rest of the rohirrim.

"A day of relaxation." I joke.

"Relaxation?" Gimli asks, still limping. "We have to go all say with those accursed animals, and you on foot, and you call it a day of relaxation?"

"I am faster and have better stamina than you do, Gimli." I reply.

He harrumphs.

"For us, this is a relaxing day indeed." Aragorn said.

Legolas joins us with a bowl of stew. I sniff the air and recoil, nose scrunched up. "What is that?"

"Eowyn made it." He said, smiling. "She is very nice." He spoons some into his mouth, and instantly spits it out, a very odd look on his face as though he had eaten something sour. He dumps the rest onto the ground and with a choked voice says, "Though I cannot say the same about her cooking."

"I'll take my chances with them." Gimli points to some younger girls making a much better-looking stew.

He gets up and brushes past Eowyn, who offers him some soup. "Gimli?"

"Uh, no! I couldn't!" And hurries past her.

She walks up to us. "I made some stew." Then she glances at Legolas. "Did you enjoy it?" He shifts to block the stew puddle on the ground. "It was delicious!" He said a bit too quickly.

"It isn't much, but it's hard earned." She hands some to Aragorn and I.

We mutter thank yous and I attempt to swallow the bile in my throat. Aragorn has to eat some. He does, swallowing a lump of something. I don't want to know what it is. He pauses, sucks it into his mouth, with a comical expression. Eowyn glances at me and before I can think I take some of it, stuff it in my mouth, and swallow. I place my fist against my mouth and swallow it again as it comes up and suppress a shudder. "It's delicious." I say.

I am going to puke.

After a long moment, he stays that way. Then he nods. I notice he has not swallowed the bite yet, He's still tasting it. _Eww!_

He swallows and says in a strained voice, "It's good."

"Really?" She asks.

I get the feeling she doesn't cook much.

I have to take another bite because she glances at me again. I fore it down. I swear that I am going to die of food poisoning.

She turns to walk away, and Aragorn and I simultaneously begin to pour it out.

Then she turned around and we stopped. Some of it splashed onto Aragorn's leg.

"My uncle told me a strange thing." She said to Aragorn. Crap. I took another bite and forced it down. Legolas shot me a pitying look. "He said that you rode to war with Thangal, my grandfather. But he must be mistaken."

"King Theoden has a good memory. He was a small child then."

I forced down another gulp. I am going to puke. I hope my face hasn't turned as green as my mark.

"Then you must be at least _sixty_." Eowen said. I spoon some of the stew onto the ground since she's not looking, and a bit more, until I don't have any left. I set the bowl down. That was torture. At least I can claim I survived Eowyn's cooking.

"Seventy?" She asks.

Aragorn shakes his head.

"You cannot be eighty!" She gasps.

He nods. "Eighty seven."

She stands. "You are one of the Dunedain, a descendent of Numenor blessed with long life. It was said that your race passed to legend."

"There are a few of us left." Aragorn says. "The northern kingdom was destroyed long ago."

"I'm sorry." Eowyn says. "Please, eat."

I feel so bad for him. She stays while he eats the entire thing before taking our bowls and leaving to torture somebosy else, but then turns to me and asks, "You ate yours quickly. Would you like more?"

"Nothankyou!" I say just a bit too quickly. She doesn't notice and walks away.

"I am going to go throw up someplace private." Aragorn says with a grunt, standing.

"Sounds like a good idea." I add. We dart from the crowds and promptly empty the foul contents of our stomachs as fast as we can.


	28. Destiny

Chapter 28

I have decided to never eat Eown's cooking ever again. Aragorn and Legolas, too. Gimli has decided to see if he can outdo us 'pussies' as soon as he can.

He has no idea what he's in for.

I'm asleep.

My dream takes me to a forest, where there is sunlight breaching the canopy, birds singing. Swift is grazing nearby, and I have my bow sling over my shoulder. I have no other weapons. My hair flows freely, except it's longer, down to my waist instead of the small of my back. I'm taller, stronger.

I suddenly see myself as if I'm not in my body. I'm in a soft green cloak. I'm very thin, have high cheekbones. My skin is a creamy color, and I'm wearing a green shirt and a jagged skirt over leggings and tall brown boots. I look like I could be a formidable opponent.

I am also kind. You can see the softness in my eyes.

Then a scene begins to manifest itself around me. I am speaking to someone. He's an elf, he's tall, he also wields a bow, but he is dressed in a battlefront uniform. A name pops into my head. Taloren.

Then I realize that it's not me. There rings in this woman's eyes are sapphire. The horse has a white streak in his mane, and he has no limp. This woman has no star-shaped marking on the side of her face.

She has the mark, the same color as her outfit.

Her name pops into my head, too. Shayline.

Taloren is laughing.

Shayline is joking with him. She has a sharp tounge and a personality like mine.

Suddenly Oromë materializes beside me.

"You know their names." He says. It is not a question.

"They're Taloren," I gesture towards the elf, "And Shayline." I gestured towards the woman that looks like me. "This isn't a dream, is it?" I ask.

"In a way, it is. I needed to speak with you."

"Why here?" I ask. "Who are these people?" I ask.

"Shayline is you in another lifetime." Oromë says. "She was my first. She died a long time ago. Taloren was her, and your, soul mate."

"What happened to him?" I ask.

"When Shayline died, his soul was destroyed. He died shortly after."

I look at him and realize that in another lifetime I may have had an attraction to him.

"We are here because this is about Shayline. Her mission was similar to yours." He replied. "She succeeded in her mission, but paid for it with her life. It cost much. One of my guardians was destroyed because of it. She chose the path led by passion. That was why it was important to chose you."

"What was her mission?" I asked.

"Her mission had to do with Morgoth. He was engineering a weapon that could control the elven and lycaron races. Shayline was destined to destroy it. She ran into a problem, however."

"Taloren." I reply.

"Taloren." He agreed. "He was the one unforeseen variable in all of this. Her quest was thrown off balance by him, and she brought her with him. In the end, Morgoth's minions used the weapon. They managed to take control of Taloren. He stabbed her through the heart, and with her last breath she let her arrow fly, destroying the machine. When he awoke to discover what he'd done, his soul shattered into disrepair. He faded. I lost my guardian, and she lost her soul mate. The weapon was destroyed, but you could not come back into existence for thousands of years."

"Why are you here?"

"To warn you." He replied. "One day soon, you will make a choice. Forsake the mission I brought you here for, thus ensuing chaos as you drag your fellowship into the darkness with you, or you can make the hard choice and leave them behind."

"When will this choice be? How will I know what it is?" I ask.

"You will know. I will speak to you again when it is time. When it comes time, do not chose the path of your fellowship." He says. "It will only cause you pain and grief, and possibly even death, a death I will not be able to resurrect you from."

I nod and look at Shayline. I do not know what she feels right now. I am a different girl.

He looks at me and says, "You possess her soul. You will encounter the same problems as she does. You have grown close to your fellowship. It is time you grew apart so that you might complete your mission."

"What is my mission?" I ask.

"One of Morgoth's silmarils has come into the mortal world. It is your mission to return it to its rightful owner."

"You wish for me to sail with it." I say. It now dawns on me why I have to distance myself from my friends. "Either way, I would have to leave my friends behind."

He nods.

The image dissipated and I wake, looking into the dawn light, a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I glance over at my friends nearby.

I stand and walk to a rock, leaning against it and watching the sky turn grey. I thought a lot, I thought about my choice, I thought about Shayline and Taloran. I thought about the outcome of their quest. I thought about what I was destined to do.

I feel sick and confused as I realize that I'm someone else. I'm Oromë's guardian. I was then, too, and when Taloran got in the way, he destroyed everything.

I don't have a soul mate like everyone else, and I'm fine with that. But seeing my friends, remembering my pack, looking at the world I will leave to accomplish this task, and I feel horrible inside.

I sense someone approach. I don't know him, he's a soldier.

"You have much on your mind."

"The path is rough." I say. "I usually have no idea of what lies ahead of me. Now I know my fate." I say. "You?"

"My family is heading to Helms deep. I do not believe it is the safest choice. I fear we shall all perish."

"The people of Rohan will survive this." I turn to him, and he sees who I am. "Of that I have no doubt."

He walks away, and I stare at the sky, wondering just how much of that I really believe.


	29. Battles on the Road

Chapter 29

When I wake up, the sun has not yet breached the horizon. I lay there, eyes open, thinking. Should I follow the path set for me? Should I allow my soul to lead my decisions?

I know I have to do this. If it really is a Silmaril, it's very important that it doesn't fall into enemy hands. My soul, however, has been proven to be fail able. Will I make the right choice when the time comes? Will I be able to? I know that the fellowship would never let me go alone. It's like Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. Sam followed Frodo, Merry and Pippin went into fanghorn as a duo, Gandalf and Shadowfax are trampling the countryside. One of the fellowship is going to try and come with me. It's just impossible for it to not happen.

I jumped when Legolas spoke. "None of the birds are singing, nor are any animals about."

"They must still be asleep, too." I reply. Gimli snored. "Well, there's one animal sound for you."

He chuckled. "Good think he did not hear you say that."

"He'd get all pink and angry and squawk about it all morning like an old hen." I reply. "Then somebody would kick him and he'd start grumbling and whining."

"What is on your mind?"

"Just something Oromë said." I reply. Well, I'm not lying. "The Valar can be quite strange, don't you think?"

"I have never met one." He replies. "Do you think Mandos is out to get me?"

"I think he has more important things on his mind at the moment. A whole ton of the elves are sailing." I say. "Perhaps he wants you to join them, perhaps not. So, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing important. Just wondering what is happening back in Mirkwood." He sighs. "I don't know how my Adar and siblings are getting along without me there to keep the spiders out of the palace."

"If I know anything about elves, I'd say they're fine." I reply. "I've never been there. What's it like?"

"It is a forest with larger, darker trees than the woods of Imladris." He says. "It is more, dense. There are usually spider webs clinging to every tree as far as the eye can see. It is more filled with creatures, due to Radagast's presence near Dol Guldur. Dol guldur is full of orcs, and because it is outside of the kingdom, Adar will not allow us, his warriors, to take them out at the source."

"He is obviously not a hunter." I say. "Though, he probably has other things to do, doesn't he?"

"Mainly paperwork." Legolas informs me. "Other times he sits high and mighty on his throne doing nothing but ordering people about. I am glad my older brother will take that position and not myself."

"I can't imagine you on a throne of any sort for more than two seconds." I tell him. "After all, you were really eager to be on your feet at the council, and the only elf to volunteer to come. I'm shocked that Glorfindel didn't volunteer."

"If Elladan and Elrohir had been invited, they would have been bouncing up and down for this. Then Glorfindel would have no choice but to come. I'd still have joined, and then Elrond would make Glorfindel go with us, and all of the races would be complaining about the number of elves signing up and the whole gathering would be here right now."

Many would be dead right now." I say. "I believe the elderly dwarf that needed assistance to move would have been the first. He would not have been able to make the climb."

Legolas nodded. "I think his name was Dalon."

I stand and say, "The sun is on the rise, it is time to get moving."

We wake the others with the help of other early risers and watchmen and we move on.

Yael pulls up beside me with the woman no longer on his back. He nickers in greeting.

"Well, where'd that old lady go?" I ask him, stroking his nose. _"She waddled off." _His expression replied. I jump onto his back and ride up to where Legolas and Aragorn are now walking, as well as Gimli since his horse ran off.

"Hello." I call down cheerfully. They glance up at me.

"Now you're riding and we're all walking." Gimli complains.

"I think the woman who rode Yael previously is the same one who is riding Asafoth." Legolas says.

"That's very likely." I say. "Asafoth is bigger than Yael, faster too. She probably felt safer on another horse."

He nods. Yael snorts at me. _"I'm perfectly safe, and Asafoth is not taller than me!" _I think I'm imagining it when he goes into show-horse mode to make himself look taller.

I realize I'm not when Aragorn says, "I believe he heard you."

He snorts, shakes his mane and bobs his head. We exchange looks.

"Smart horse." A rider comments as he rides by.

"_Thank you." _Yael seems to wave his tail.

"What have these Rohan people been _feeding _him?" I ask.

"Whatever it is, we should find out." Legolas says. "Maybe we could all have intelligent horses."

Every horse in hearing range stamped their feet and huffed.

"I think they're feding Yael the exact same thing they're feeding those horses." Aragorn says.

Then two scouts ride ahead.

I inhale deeply and smell something familiar that I haven't smelled in a while. Perhaps it was the thing disturbing the horses up front.

Then it hits me. Horses afraid, wolves, or more accurately: Wargs.

The men start screaming. I leap from Yael's back, turn into a wolf, and sprint forwards, Legolas trailing behind me. I think I impressed some riders, and I know I scared just about every horse in the caravan. I leapt and threw myself at the throat of the nearest warg. It spun and rolled from the force of the impact and its orc rider was crushed. I ripped the fur from his neck, mentally cursing at my inability to brat the flesh until I finally do, ripping his windpipe out. I round on the other warg and it tackles me. I kick it hard in the shoulders and wriggle out from under it like a fish, leaping and tearing the rider's head from its shoulders.

Legolas arrives in time to shoot the warg. My nostrils are burning with the scent of warg blood, and shake my head to get some of it off me. I then inhale.

Legolas shouts "Wargs!" To Aragorn, who runs back to tell the cavalry. I shift to my human form. "More approaching upwind!"

We go to the crest of the hill and draw our bows. We see the wargs and riders cresting the hill, howling in excitement.

"Approaching upwind is a very bad idea." I growl. Legolas fires an arrow, and seconds later one enters my firing range and I shoot it in the head. I fire another arrow, aware that Legolas is also firing.

I miss my third shot, but another warg is stupid enough to impale his foot on it and kills his rider while rolling around belly-up in the dirt howling and waving its legs around like a dead cockroach.

We continue to fire until the horses arrive. I leap onto Yael's back almost unconsciously, following Legolas's lead. Yael is powerful and firm beneath me. We ride forwards and I use my bow until we get to close quarters.

I draw the longest blades I have, a short sword and a dagger, from my belt and press Yael onwards.

I see the true danger suddenly when wargs started pouncing on horses. One tried to do this to Yael, and I urged him to the side as fast as possible and the warg sails past. I fire an arrow into its head, and then take my short range weapons out again. A warg charges from the side and Yael backs up.

The warg pulls up beside us in a jerking motion, throwing the warg off-balance. I plunge my short sword into his skull, and then rip it out. The body falls into the face of the warg, about to bite Yael's flank. It backs away and I throw a smaller knife into its own head. It lies still.

I'll grab that knife later.

We continue to fight until I don't dodge a blow from the flat of an axe and go tumbling off my horse. Yaqel screams and rears, and I shout in dismay as the blade completes a second arc, right into Yael's throat. I scramble out of the way to avoid being crushed, and the warg is on top of me. I grab its jaws and puash as hard as I can to stop it from tearing me apart. It snaps repeatedly. I can't let go to grab my knives. I kick it in the throat, right in a soft spot, and it doesn't relent.

An elven arrow soars into its eye. It jerke off of me with a yelp and then keels over, dead. I end the orc before it can get up and give a nod of thanks to Legolas before getting back up.

I start shooting anything that comes witghin range that is not a horse or man. An unsuspecting Creban, three wargs, and six orcs, and then I run out of arrows.

Since me being a human and trying to kill a warg on foot isn't going to work, I turn into a wolf, confident that the fact I'm not huge and slobbery or being ridden by an orc will help the Rohirrim identify me.

I lunge at a warg whose rider I already killed and my teeth sink into its head. I clamp down hard and don't let go, even when I feel his eye in my jaws. He throws me opff with a scream and flees.

I notice a few wounded wargs leaving, and realize that the battle is over. I shift back and survey the battlefield.

There's death everywhere, but my nose is too full of warg slobber (eww) to smell it. I pull out a hankerchief and pull my cowl over my face before working to get it out.

As soon as that's done, I walk up to Legolas. "Thanks for the save back there."

He nods.

"Where's Aragorn?" Asks Gimli. "And where's Yael?"

"Yael's dead. Aragorn is…" I look around the field.

"I do not see him." Legolas says.

"Neither do I," I say, my face paling.

"Did he leave a trail?" Asks Legolas.

"I can'r rell one trail from another in this mess." I say, voice rising in distress.

Then I see a dead orc with something shining and frighteningly familiar in its grip. It is the necklace I saw him wearing.

I charge over to the orc.

"Where's Aragorn?"

It chuckles, choking on its own blood. "He took a li'l tumble off the cliff."

Legolas blanches beside me. It laughs and dies. I pull the pendant from his palm and spit on his head. Then I dart to the cliff.

I ss bloody smears on a few of the rocks and the reek of warg blood comes up to me, mingling with the scent of Human blood, Aragorn's blood.

If I hadn't cured him, he'd be okay. This is my fault, born of my judgment. I should have waited. I should have waited.

I realize I'm shaking slightly.

"We must move on." King Theoden says from behind me. "Leave the dead."

We have to. I see the judgment. Now that we know they know we're coming this way, they'll be chasing us. Unless we want more people we care about to wind up dead, we have to move on.

"But…" Legolas starts.

"I know Aragorn was your friend," Theoden says, "But we cannot linger here."

"If it makes you feel better, I can find his body and then catch up with you." I say, hardly aware that I'm saying it. "I can bury him. H would have gone downriver and I'll be quick."

Theoden shakes his head. "If we're attacked again, we need all of the fighters we can muster, and you're one of the stronger ones. We can't afford to have you gone."

I nod. "I guess. You have a point."

My companions stare at me in shock.

"Would Aragorn want us to abandon Rohan now?" I ask. "If any of us were in his place, would you have wamted us to abandon our mission?"

Theoden has walked away now. Legoals and Gimli want to go after him.

"This river is one of the few pure things in this middle earth, and I can smell the scent of a winter wolf's change here." I say. "If he's alive, they'll keep him safe, and if h's wounded, he'll have the opportunity to heal. Besides, he fell with a warg, yet I can smell his horse has gone downriver. Brego seems like a loyal horse. If Aragorn is dead, the wolves will bury him. If he's alive, he'll return with Brego."

They nod sullenly, and we walk away. I notice that they're following me now and it feels like ten tons have been placed on my shoulders.

I desperately hope Aragorn is okay, and at the same time I want to chase after him. There's no point, though. Even though I feel lost, Legoals has known Aragorn longer, much longer, and Gimli can't take charge. I have to do so. Now I know what it feels like to lead someone, and I don't want it. I don't want it at all.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but my computer got taken away 'cause of bad grades. I'll try and be better with the family one. I hope you liked it!<strong>


	30. Helms Deep

Chapter 30

We continue to walk with everyone else who survived to Helms deep. Some riders took the wounded ahead, and only one horseman stayed behind. He was younger, but he was no fool and no stranger to battle, sadly. He had to be thirteen, maybe younger. For a human this is, so I've heard, a bad thing. For wolves, if you're not a stranger to battle in your thirteenth year as a wolf, you're both lucky and destined to be the omega forever.

He stayed behind to make sure we had at least one horseman on our side should we be attacked again. I saw some older men riding ahead bearing no serious wounds or wounded, just to get to safety faster.

Soon the fortress comes in sight. If Aragorn was here, he'd have paused and made a comment about the state of the muck pit.

I don't stop. I just scoff. "They could've done better, or at least done repairs on the thing after they wrecked it in battle."

A grunt of agreement came from Gimli.

Looks like I won't live to get to choose my path. I refrain from trying to send a brain-message to Oromë telling him that he might need to choose a new guardian.

The men are edgy around me. They know I'm not human now more than ever and since they don't know what I am, they're jumping to conclusions.

As we continue forwards, I see the gates swinging open for us. We walk in. Almost immediately, Eowyn is there. She is looking for Aragorn. She approaches Legolas first. "Where is Aragorn?"

He flinches. I place a hand on his shoulder and let Gimli give the news. "He fell."

Her shock is evident. "What do you mean, he fell?"

"Eowyn, he was fighting, and a warg dragged him off the edge of a cliff. He's most likely dead."

"But you don't know?"

"The river washed his body away. We didn't search, but if he survived a fall from that height, he would have been knocked unconscious and drowned." I say.

She is horrified. "Why didn't you help him?"

"We weren't there." Legolas says softly.

With that we walk away, leaving Eowyn shocked and grieving. He had better chances of surviving than I said, but when a woman is grieving for someone they love, it's best not to give them false hope. I learned that from an old friend, Trianna Mavis, whose imprint was bitten and died. Darrius had to deliver the news. She got on with her life, but we didn't let her think he could still come back.

Unfortunately, she got eaten by a warg later on. It would have killed me too if Darrius hadn't killed it first.

It's best if Eowyn survives this loss without hoping he'll come back and tearing her life apart looking for him. If she accepts reality for what it is, she'll live long enough for something else to take her out in a glorious fireworks fashion that will be remembered for all eternity, or to live to old age with a husband that isn't in love with an elf and kids of her own.

We continue, and my thoughts drift back to Aragorn.

He was leading us. Now he's dead. More than that, he was our friend. In these past few weeks he's been happy, friendly to everyone, and undeserving of death even more than usual. He was a good man and the future King of Gondor.

I just can't believe it ended this way for him. After everything he lived through on this adventure, after believing he'd lost Arwen, the warg got him, just like it got Trianna. Who knows, maybe everyone who loses their love like that ends up eaten by a warg.

I perch on the edge of the wall like I perched on a fence. I inhale the air, taking in the scents of men and horses and the filth of helms deep, and the wafting scent of the prairie.

Then I see something. I sit up and look. There's a horse coming, it has a rider.

Just as Legolas and Gimli walk up, I realize who it is.

"Brego!" I gasp, excited. "He came back, and guess who's riding him?"

"Open the gates!" Shouts Legolas. Gimli runs off, and we continue at a slower pace. He walks up to us next and hardly resist the urge to quack like a duck at him for hours.

"Mae Gonnoven." Legolas says as if no time has passed. He glances at his friend and I get the impression they meet like this a lot. "You look terrible."

Aragorn smiles and chuckles.

"So, what happened? I know you jumped off a cliff with a warg, but nothing of what happened after. Did you see any of the wolves I smelled earlier?"

"No." He replies. "I floated downstream…"

"Huh. Are you made of wood?" I ask. "People don't usually just float when they fall off cliffs."

He ignores me. "Brego found me and I rode back here."

Eowyn runs up. Legolas returns Aragorn's pendant to him. "Thank you." Aragorn whispers.

Eowyn has yet to be noticed by the other two.

We walk to Theoden's throne room and Aragorn pushes the doors open.

"Aragorn, we thought you were dead." Theoden remarks.

"There is a great host of orcs headed down the ravine towards us." He says.

"A great host, you say." Theoden ponders this. I know he realized his mistake just about now.

"All of Isengard has emptied." Aragorn replies.

We're dead.

"How many?" Asks Theoden.

"Ten thousand strong at least."

Yeah, I'm going to die here. We all are. Hell! Let's just throw a goddamned party and get so drunk that we pass out so we don't have to be mutilated to death!

"_Ten Thousand_?!" Theoden gasps.

"It was an army bred for a single purpose: to destroy the world of men. They'll be here by nightfall."

Even as he says this, My mind shoots to the wolves. We can look to them for help, and they to us! We might not stand a chance, but we can make an end so memorable that every race will remember it!

"Let them come!" Spat Theoden.

We exited the throne room. "I want every man and strong lad able to bear arms Ready for battle by nightfall." Theoden orders his soldier. I head for the gates.

"Where are you going?" Asks Theoden.

"I know where we can get help, however it will be little." I say. "On the way in, just after the battle, I caught the scent of a winter wolf. Where there's one, there's a pack. If I can get them to come, we can help."

"An unarmed force of wolves cannot help us." He growls.

"We're very hard to kill, always armed, shape shifters, and fight for our survival just about every day. " I contradict him. "Heck, even the small children have been in battle before. I would know."

He nods, convinced, and I shift and sprint out the gates.

Help is on the way.


	31. Bloodlust

Chapter 31

I run and I keep running until I reach the place I scented the wolf. I can see no sign of the orcs yet. I pause, scenting the air.

These wolves might be hostile, and one more step and I'll be intruding on their territory. I belong to another pack. It's not right. So I howl instead, then pause.

Another howl responds. I howl again, and the other howl comes closer.

There's a flash of fur, and a grey wolf with odd black streaks down his sides appears in front of me.

I send him an image of the oncoming orcs, and then helms deep.

When he doesn't seem interested, I chow him me killing a warg rider, and then an image of people going into helms deep.

Then I show what ten thousand orcs would look like.

I'm starting to fear this is an ordinary wolf.

Then he nods, and shows me an image of myself crossing into his territory, following him.

I follow him in.

We show up at a cabin, and people are there, all human.

I shift right in front of them.

"What the hell?" One man outright barks.

"Yes, I can shift whenever I want. Right now, that's not my point. There's a host of orcs coming, well over ten thousand of them. They will mow this place down, and then continue to attack helms deep."

"We can't just leave our territory undefended!" One man growls.

"You won't be alive to defend it unless you can make it to Helms Deep." I reply. "There is where you stand the best chance."

"What about you, rogue wolf?" Asked the woman who was obviously the alpha female.

"I'm part of the Imladris pack." I reply. "Lead by Darrius of the white fangs."

Every alpha gets a title like this. I heard that there's a pack in northern Gondor lead by Anvel of the iron claws, a dwarf. There's one on the slopes of the lonely mountain, lead by Ageis of the golden fur, who is a half elf half dwarf. Odd combo, I know, and even more odd in a wolf.

Darrius got a better title.

"Ah." The Alpha male said. "I know enough about the packs to recognize that name. My name is Rowan or the crimson blade." This suggests he's more of a fighter in his human form than in his wolf form. "I met Darrius once on a supply run. Longest lived wolf of all."

"Mhm." I reply.

"We will go to helms deep, as long as I have assurance that the soldiers will not slay us on sight."

"Hey, they dealt with me. All you need to do is explain your, issues, when it comes to shifting and you'll be fine."

He nodded. Then he looked to the wolf and transmitted a thought. I turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"To see how far the orcs are, and if possible to get more help. We're goanna need it."

"May your paws be swift and your luck great, winter wolf of Imladris."

I nodded and responded, "And may your blade ring true, alpha of the Helms Canyon pack."

I shifted and began to run.

As I ran, I reflected upon the meeting. They would not go down without a fight, that much I know. But, what happens if they decide to fight from where they are? They stood a better chance with the rohirrim.

My paws were swift. I reached the crest of the hill. I had enough time, just enough, to get the elves of lothlorien here to help, but that would be with a fight.

The lady of lorien was said to be gifted with a sort of clairvoyance.

Maybe, just maybe I can hit her radar.

I let out the longest, loudest howl I had ever released.

I closed my jaws. Then I listened. The whispering in the trees didn't stop, and no reply came.

I flattened my ears, and felt for the mind of the thing I'd brushed up against when in the midst of my second change. I never told anyone, but I think she was telepathic. If so…

I found it.

I sent her an image of the army of orcs. I showed her the pack. I shower her helms deep. I showed the sun in the sky, and I howled.

Then I broke the connection and settled down to wait.

The orcs were close when the elves finally arrived.

I shifted to my sort of human form when they showed up.

"My name is Haldir." The one in the lead said. "The lady of lorien heard you."

"Good. Now we need to hurry." I reply.

It took a lot longer to reach helms deep with the elves. When we did arrive, the gates were open. I had stayed in my human form the entire time.

I went to the row of archers right after, not bothering with conversation. Later, Legolas and Gimli took places next to me, Legolas on my right and Gimli on his. I saw Aragorn a few yards away.

"What's happening? I can't see anything." Gimli said.

I'm vaguely certain that Legolas said something in reply.

I just didn't hear him. Wolves can sense when lots of blood is about to be spilt, and I don't mean skirmish-type bloodshed. I mean full on battle kind of blood.

It roars into my senses. _Shift_. It's like old times, but less demanding. I can resist it, barely. My wolf instincts want to be on the ground, charging and shredding every orc in my path, to show them the wrath of a wolf. I could see that some of the wolves had already shifted, but knew enough not to start killing everything and everyone in a mile that wasn't pack.

The blood pounded in my ears to the beat created by the stomping of orcs. My lip curled and my lethal k-nines glinted in the moonlight, face drawn in a fearsome snarl. My muscles were tense.

"Calm down, mellon-nin." Legolas whispered.

I looked at him and responded quite bluntly. "Wolves are predators. We can sense when mnajor blood is about to be spilt and it can make us crazy. This is calm."

Aragorn said something that was hard to hear. We drew our bows.

The world paused.

One of the elderly men released early.

It struck the orc in the middle of the first column, killing him.

The orcs charged.

I shot the orc on the rock who gave the orders as soon as the order was given.

We systematically fired.

The scent of orc blood flowed into my nostrils. I released another arrow.

"Fire at will!"

I did just that.

Arrow after arrow, orc after orc dying. Something about this situation honed my skills to a lethal accuracy.

They couldn't get in the gate.

I ran out of arrows and stepped back.

A ladder hit the wall. I shoved it off, well aware that I was in the beginnings of a shift.

I continued to knock down ladders and kill orcs until the siege engines arrived.

As soon as the orcs started coming out, I started ripping them to shreds.

I'm a wolf right now.

I was joined by a red female wolf. We gleefully killed everything in our paths, ignoring our injuries and making sure not to get fatally wounded.

The soldiers seemed glad we're here. Legolas seemed stunned.

He's never seen me when I'm in the midst of bloodlust before.

I lunged and killed an orc behind him, and then whipped around and killed two more, aware of every orc I slaughtered.

I lost track of time.

Then the wall Aragorn was standing on exploded.

A rage boiled in me.

I saw him getting up, in the water of the drain pipe.

An orc was about to stab him.

I'm close enough.

In a blurr of claws and fangs, I hurl muself from the ledge and rip the orc's head off. I kill anything and everything that gets near me and Aragorn until Aragorn is on his feet and I have to make sure I don't kill Gimli.

The orcs seem to be terrified of me. I have to chase them.

But I don't press into the phalanx.

The alpha male is nearby. He's a grander sight than I am.

When the others retreated behind the walls, I didn't follow them. Everything was coated in red. One thought echoed through my head on repeat. _Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill._

The rest f the wolf pack arrived.

Something hit me on the side.

It was a huge spear.

I can't get it out with paws, and I can't shift.

I lay there, wounded, as the bloodlust drains away, replaced by the realization that I'm hurt.

This is bad.

I can still walk, but it's awkward. I limp into the gates just before they close them, and collapse.

One of the soldiers rips the spear from my side.

An acidic burn is there.

The spear was poisoned.

After a long moment, my body bled the poison out of my system, and then healed the wound. I stood, waiting, had throbbing, for moments, until my head cleared enough.

The wolves, tons wounded, had returned. I helped with their injuries.

One of the soldiers remarked on how lucky we were. I ignored him.

I helped barricade the door, then drew my knives.

The first blow hit the gate. My teeth bared, I shoved the bloodlust back.

The second blow, I had regained calm.

By the time the gate came down, I was ready.

I plunged into the wave of orcs.


	32. Agressive negotiations

Chapter 32

LEGOLAS POV

I slew every orc I could on the way to the keep. I noticed, as always, that the wolves, taken by bloodlust, had not come with us.

Their behavior kind of scares me. I saw a puppy rip the head off a fully grown Uruk-hai, and not a small one either.

I think Artemis scares me the most. I haven't seen an orc go near her. In fact, she's been chasing them down. All she had to do to cause a three minute pause in the fighting was stand in front of the gateway, somewhere between wolf and human, roaring her head off and charging everything that got near her.

It was scary to know that she was having a hard time differentiating friend from foe.

As soon as the forces retreated to the keep, the alpha of the other pack raced in, his wolves following him. Artemis shot straight for the caverns, seeing as some orcs were headed that way.

Aragorn and Theoden were speaking to each other. They mounted horses and Gimli and I followed suit.

How we were going to fight orcs on horseback in the keep, I have no clue.

We rode out, I holding a sword, and began to fight the orcs.

A greyish light filled the air, and Aragorn looked to the east.

I followed suit, and I cannot even name the feeling that rose in me.

Gandalf had brought help.

The wolves left their defensive positions. The orcs were being driven back. Artemis just about flew past me after some retreating orcs, ripping them to shreds. My sword was suddenly unneeded.

Other wolves followed suit.

Then it dawned on me. Wolves are hunters, predators. Winter wolves are different. They're not just predators, but they're above men, elves, dwarves, and orcs on the food chain. The only creatures I think are above them would be wargs and Dragons, and, of course, the purebloods.

They shrieked and howled, following the retreating orcs, some human, some wolves. A boy of about seven raced past, covered in the blood of his enemies, leapt three feet into the air and stabbed an orc in the neck before moving on.

We chased the orcs, too, driving them out.

They fled into the boundary of fanghorn forest.

The wolves continued to chase them and kill them, herding them into the forests.

And to my astonished eyes, the trees finished them off. Roaring and swaying and killing.

Not one orc of the army of over ten thousand left that fight alive.

The wolves howled in triumph.

I am very, very glad they are on our side.

ARTEMIS POV

I walked back to the group, exhausted, still in my wolf form, coat heavy with the blood of my enemies, and an unfortunate rohirrim soldier who got stabbed by an orc. He was dead when I ripped through his corpse and killed the orc who did it, gaining only a scrape to my belly, which is gone now.

Some of the wolves had stayed in human form. They had clothing like mine, though, that appeared on us when we shift back.

I wonder how many orcs that were bitten will survive. This was already a large pack, numbering in the forties. With all the shifted orcs, they'll be up to the hundreds, enough to start their own city. Their territory will definitely expand, and they might even have to take the whole canyon. Normals will still be allowed in, but I doubt other pack members will be. These guys have a lot to do.

I thank the valar that we were granted with bloodlust, or we all would have fallen.

I notice that the soldiers are afraid of us. They have reason to fear us, but only if we should turn on them.

The pack leader, one of the ones to stay human spoke to Theoden.

"Of the orcs we bit, some will shift and change into not only wolves, but good people. I would like to have my people search the battlefield for them, so that we may bring them to our territory."

"Of course." Theoden said, if a bit distastefully.

"We will not bother Rohan, we will simply exist as we always have before now. Out of sight and out of mind. You have nothing to fear from the helms canyon pack."

Theoden consented, and they left.

The men were edgy around me.

I shifted back. Eomer fell off his horse.

We stared at him for a moment as he regained his composure, and his seat.

"You looked like I would turn into a dragon and incinerate you or something."

"Can you?" Asked one of the men.

"No, duh. " I walked away.

As soon as I entered the fortress, I looked around the place. It was an absolute mess.

Some of the wolves were helping bewildered elves out of the mess and I counted twenty already there.

Eesh, they have about sixty members now.

I climbed the stairs until I saw Eowyn. She was helping some people out of the caverns.

"You're covered in blood!" She gasped.

"Not mine." I grunted in reply, helping her.

"Oh." She kind of looked freaked.

"Eomer's here."

"He is?"

"Yeah, go talk to him."

She darted away.

I helped a mother lift her child out of the cavern entrance and then pulled her out. Somehow, the debris from the explosion had covered half the opening, so now getting out was a challenge.

"Well," A girl said, "We're goanna need a new wall."

I snorted. "_And _major redecorating."

She grinned and started helping some of the others. "Yeah. We could even make an expansion out of that. Include a better stable, more housing, a more efficient and not-so –vulnerable drainage system…"

"Drainage system definitely needed redoing." I add.

"We'll have to petition it to the lord of the area, if he didn't die."

"Was he a big dude, yellowish hair, flushed cheeks?"

"Yeah, that's him. He wore a nice big leather cape everywhere he went."

"You need to find a new lord, then. An orc killed him before I could kill it."

"Maybe we could even get a woman to be in charge."

"Girls are awesome. Go for it." I reply with a grin.

"Amity," A woman said, "She is a wolf. Wolves are savage…"

"I'm right here. And I remember saving your life." I reply.

The woman muttered under her breath.

"You were the beast?" She asked.

I flashed my k-nines at her. "I'm one of the wolves."

"I saw you get a sword in your foot. Are you okay?"

"It wasn't immediately fatal. If I get one second to heal it, I'll be fine. So yeah, it healed in about ten seconds."

She nodded. "You wolves are amazing, really."

"Amity…"

"Is that your mother or something?" I ask her.

"Yes."

"Well she's like a dog. Barking for no apparent reason."

"That's not very nice."

"It's like you calling someone obnoxious. It's a winter wolf expression for annoying person."

"Oh."

We chatted until everyone was out.

"I'm Amity Pierrre, by the way."

"I'm Artemis Wolfblood." I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

We parted ways.

I headed over to the group of wolves, now in the eighties. The alpha looked up and said, "I never caught your name."

"Artemis Wolfblood."

"Ah, the Imladris pack's third."

I nodded.

"Well, we recently received word from one of the packs on the plains that the Gondor pack is in trouble. Seeing as we're at war, I'm calling a convergence. I-I also heard that your alpha has deceased. Gale of the shadowed fangs has brought his pack to the Silver plains pack's territory. Do you think your fellowship may spare you?"

"I will ask them." I reply. "If they can, I'll go there immediately. "

He nodded.

I turned and walked away, walking until I located Gandalf and the others.

They turned to look as I approached.

"You have something to say?" Gandalf asked.

"Yes, I do. The packs are converging. It's a council upon whether or not we will join the free peoples in the fight against mordor. Also, Darrius just died. I must accept my position as pack second. If you can spare me, I will rejoin you as soon as I can. Where can I expect you to be in fifteen days' time?"

"At Edoras." Aragorn replied, "Or heading to Gondor."

"Can't you stay for a bit longer?" Asked Legolas.

"I'm afraid not. This meeting could win the entire war for us if we decide to join them, and besides, a convergence hasn't been called since the fall of Morgoth. Every wolf of every pack will be attending. I would have to denounce my ties to my species if I were to miss this."

I turned and left.

I ran across the field, knowing I might not return to Edoras to meet the others. This could very possibly be where we part for good.

Without the burden of having to wait for the slow humans, I traveled swiftly, and I didn't stop for three days. Soon my scent mingled with the scent of the packs. On the fifth day I arrived.

I spotted Gale easy enough. With Gale I found my pack.

"Artemis!"

The general joyous cry went up from my pack, and a few yips and howls, and then they noticed my clothes. And my appearance.

"What happened?" Asked Gale.

"I was in a battle at helms deep five days ago." I replied. "As for my appearance, I went through a second change. I hold both the cure to the poison that kills us, and the way to reverse your conditions."

They stared at me.

"What do you mean, second change?" Asked Glorfindel. "What do you mean by cure?"

I shifted, and then shifted back. "That would be the change. The cure is in my blood. If any of you wish to give up your wolf form…"

They glared at me. "No." They replied. "If you can stop us from dying before our times, do it, but we don't want the wolves gone." Gale replied. "Not when we can avenge Darrius, and regain our honor using it."

"Fill me in." I reply.

He told me everything. One day, the pureblood and a pack of wargs had run in. They had killed a new recruit and Darrius, then chased them out of the territory, then burned the lodge down. In return I told them about my journeys and all I had done, leaving out the dream of my destiny.

"We have much to do." Gale said. "As Darrius's third, I chose you as my second. It is up to you to choose the third. I would do this formally, but we have much to do."

I gave them the cure to the poison, but none of them wanted their wolf forms taken.

"You can still turn people with your bite, though I can't." I inform them.

Soon, all of the packs were here.

The hills were covered in a teeming mass of wolves. The first, second, and third of every pack would represent their packs. There were twenty packs. That made sixty representatives.

I had to choose the pack's third.

It took me two hours before I was able to come to a decision. My candidates had been Rachel, Damien, Glorfindel, and Samuel. I ruled Damien out right away, Rachel out second. After a while, I picked Glorfindel, despite him being the less experienced as a wolf. I was picked as third when I was six, so his lack of experience isn't a factor.

I told the pack afterwards.

Rachel obviously didn't like it. She's the one who likes to be respected, dominant. Samuel was fine with it. Damien went, clapped him on the shoulder and congratulated him with the rest of the pack.

The meeting started the next day.

The alphas, their betas* and the Gamma* wolves all converged.

The packs milled around outside of the event.

"Glorfindel, winter wolf politics aren't anything like elven ones. You guys usually stay calm and collected through those. Here, we display exactly what we think. There's no point in lying about it. We're blunt. Sometimes we'll even fight out our differences. Try to be a voice of reason." I informed him.

"I thought convergences were rare." He replied.

"They are." I reply. "Pack-to-pack meetings, however, aren't. I've met up with several packs before. The Helms Canyon pack, most recently. They'll argue to fight against the shadow. So will our pack, I assume?"

He nodded.

"The packs in Gondor will side with us. Then there's the eastern packs. The outcome will be unpredictable."

"How come the packs that want to help, help, and the ones who don't, don't?"

"Because wolves can't just go around killing other wolves. We pick a side, and we all stick together. It's pack loyalty."

He nodded.

We took our places.

"First, we'll elect someone to direct the meeting."

The council elected Shar of the rippling water, Alpha of the blue waters pack, a pack on the beach. She had long, silver hair and blue eyes.

Then the meeting began.

"Packs of Middle Earth." She addressed us, "The matter we have converged to discuss can wait no longer. All around us people, elves, men, dwarves, and wolves, are dying. Those who are killing them are all aligned with the shadow, and they are orcs, wargs, trolls, and an assortment of other creatures seeping like a black river from Mordor, and until recently, Isengard. The decision is at hand. What will the packs do about it?"

The first to speak is the one to the right of her.

"The answer is obvious." He stood. "My name is Gallous of the Setting Sun, Alpha of the pack of Rhun. My territory has repeatedly been under siege from orcs and wargs, with many trolls and even a lesser drake. We have fought them off, but for how much longer? We must attack the source of this darkness at the core. We'll fight the shadow."

The Beta and Gamma wolves agreed, though the beta was in wolf form and the Gamma wasn't.

"The Shaded grove pack agrees with you." A dwarf said. "Those bastards need to be taught a lesson."

Five more packs agreed.

"Wait before you waste your lives, fellow pack members." Said one of the seconds. His alpha was in wolf form. "I am Sagen, second of the southern tip barrow packs. We have lived in peace with these creatures for a millennia, and they have not threatened us once. Attack and we lose our territory."

I growled and said, "If we do not attack, we will lose our lives _and _our territories, and once we're dead, you cowards will be, too. They won't care whether you attack or not."

Murmurs of agreement rocketed around the circle.

"And who are you to address me?"

"I am Artemis Wolfblood, Beta of the Imladris pack, and only wolf to go through a second change. I am sure you've all heard of a pureblood?"

They all nodded.

"Purebloods work with the shadows."

Snarls of fury erupted everywhere.

More agreements to fight went up.

"My name is Gale of the Shaded Fang, Alpha of the Imladris pack. My predecessor, Darrius of the white fang, was killed by a pureblood and his pack of warg riders. They have already declared war on us. We will fight."

Twelve of the packs were in agreement.

"Why do we fight the shadow? Why not join it?" One wolf piped up.

Glorfindel wanted to attack. Gale gave him his consent. The man was suddenly on the ground with a blade at his throat.

"Why do we fight the shadow?" He growled. Wow, Glorfindel changed. "It is because we are part of this world! It is because the shadow wishes to bring only pain and death to everyone in Middle Earth, down to the last of us. Sauron is the apprentice of Morgoth. Should he succeed, Morgoth will rise and this world shall end. We fight for our lives, our homes, for everything that is good!"

He backed off and the wolf ran off.

"Anyone else?" Barked the alpha of the Helms canyon pack.

"Good job." I told Glorfindel.

"I never would have gotten away with that in any other council. Much less be told good job for it."

"We're wolves. You just showed him that you're not to be messed with. Something like this happens every time."

After a while, a concensus was reached.

The packs would fight with the free peoples of Middle Earth.

And afterwards, I ate pie.


End file.
